Princess Hours
by unmei no hana
Summary: From an average student to princess to be, can Sakura handle charming relatives, jealous ex girlfriends, the paparazzi, and scandal after scandal? [SasuSakuSai, slight NaruHina, NejiTen, ShikaIno]
1. The Dream Story

Unmei: Ah, my first Naruto fic. Hopefully this one will be better than my other fics… seeing how they weren't very good at all . But… meh, I doubt it. Anyways, it's roughly based off the Korean drama "Princess Hours," also known as "Goong." It's really good!

Disclaimer: If I was prettier maybe I could be on a Korean drama as well, but then I would have to learn Korean. Oh, and by the way, the very first part of this fic is well… pretty much exactly the same as the actual drama. But, I promise the rest is just loosely based off of it!

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Princess Hours

Chapter 1: The Dream Story

Unmei no Hana

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(Hi no Kuni Palace)

A tired old woman, dressed finely in embroidered silk, sat on a couch, sadly staring at her hands. She lifted her head slightly as an old looking doctor approached.

"What is it?"

"I'm so frightened, I don't dare tell you the truth, Yoshino-sama."

"Go on. Please tell me."

"It's dizziness caused by neuroglycopenia, Yoshino-sama."

"What…neuroglycopenia?"

"Yes, Yoshino-sama. It's the symptom of his brain dying away…"

"How could this happen?"

A younger woman sat next to Yoshino-sama. Her face was equally sad.

"My condolences, Yoshino-sama."

"In the year 1954, the ever-healthy Emperor Uchiha Tohma suddenly died with no symptoms at all. His position was taken over by Crown Prince, Uchiha Masao. There were ripples in the royal family at that time, which left me scarred and hurt for life. We must obey the traditional rules of the royal family. This is a big matter that concerns the safety of the royal family. This time, let's turn the danger into a chance. The step for the royal family to flourish in the 21st century."

As Yoshino-sama said those words, she glanced over to a dresser—its top filled with picture frames. She looked over them, the vast majority containing pictures of a well-dressed family. The family members had bright smiles upon their face as the older ones were standing happily in front of two younger children who had goofy smiles upon their faces. She lingered at the last photograph, a picture of a handsome man dressed in a formal suit.

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(Konoha High School)

"Wow so you got this at the Palace?"

"Yep. Last time at the opening day."

"Really?"

"Yep! They were handing this out for free."

"Oh, wow!"

"On that day, I saw all the high class people."

"On my gosh! I should've gone too!"

As the two girls, one with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and the other with dark brown hair in two buns, giggled and flipped through a book, their friend, who had oddly pink colored hair, entered and grabbed the book from them.

"Let me see."

The one who had been holding it, protested and grabbed for the book.

"We were looking at it!"

"Oh! It's gorgeous."

Ignoring her protesting friend, the pink haired girl tugged at the book.

"Sakura, you can't do this…it's going to tear."

The three of them wrestled for the book until they heard a ripping sound. The pink haired girl, Sakura, held up a ripped out page sheepishly.

"Oh no. It ripped."

The two girls grabbed the page from Sakura's hands, dumbfounded. They stared blankly from the page to the book and back to the ripped out page, their mouths gaping in astonishment. Finally, one of them responded.

"Hey, Sakura! You're dead!"

Panicking, Sakura ran through the crowd that had gathered, jumping over several desks in the process. Her two friends, screaming madly at her, followed.

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I am Haruno Sakura, a senior majoring in Chemistry—a bright young student! As mentioned before, what Prince? You are wondering who these high-class people are, right? Just like the 21st century, even Kiri no Kuni and Suna no Kuni has admired kings that still… What is it? OH! That still remain on throne. Royal families are still being admired by people and are taking over the throne controlling their country. But what is the Hi no Kuni Palace like? Sadly, the Palace is an empty place now ever since the relation of families broke apart. That is why… lets just imagine it. In other words, lets just brighten up our Palace and imagine that there actually lives a charming prince that every girl is in love with. So what do you say? Are you curious? The Dream Story by Haruno Sakura!

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2006 Hi no Kuni is a Constitutional Monarchy

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(Chemistry Lab)

The two girls who had previously chased Sakura around were now looking through what appeared to be a scrapbook—full of pictures of a handsome, but rather cold looking, man.

"Oh look at the Prince when he was a baby. He's so cute!"

They giggled more and flipped through pages that contained more recent photographs of the handsome prince. Sakura entered the room, carrying a rather large stack of notebooks. She greeted her other classmates when she caught sight of her two friends fawning over the pictures of the Prince. Quietly setting down her notebooks, she crept up behind the two of them. Sakura poked them both on their sides, earning a loud yelp from them both.

"Yatta! I surprised the both of you."

"Mou, Sakura, what was that for? You know…I'm still mad at you from before."

"Don't be mad Ino-chan. I promise I'll get you another copy when I visit the Palace okay?"

However, before the blonde, Ino, was able to reply, a second girl approached their group. She had short purple hair and pearly white eyes, covered by black-rimmed glasses.

"Ne, Sakura-chan. What's with the gym-pants you're wearing?"

"Ah, these? I call this my combination style! Pretty awesome, ne?"

"Yeah right Sakura"

The four girls turned to see who had said that remark. A girl with four blonde ponytails sat, sketching. She turned to face them, glaring with sharp green eyes.

"And by the way, Tenten, have you finished your assignment yet?"

"What assignment?" Tenten stared at Temari with a blank face.

"The chemical identification assignment. If you've forgotten, it's due today."

Tenten, who had previously been admiring the photos of the prince once again, dropped the book in surprise.

"Ehhh? You mean it's due today? Mou, why didn't you tell me earlier, now I'm never going to finish—there are too many things to identify. I'm going to be in so much trouble."

Tenten hastily gathered their materials and began testing different chemicals, whining to herself. Temari just sneered, turning to face Ino who had picked up the discarded scrapbook.

"Also Ino, what are you doing here? You're majoring in journalism right—I heard you guys have a major article due today, shouldn't you be working on that?"

Ino, too, dropped the scrapbook in surprise.

"Shimatta! I forgot. You guys don't mind me working here right? The journalism classroom is too far away…"

"Che, why? You ought to go back staring at the Prince's photos, you Cinderella freaks." Temari told them harshly.

"Ne, what's wrong with Cinderella anyways, Temari-senpai." Sakura asked, confused.

"Those kind of people are useless. All they do is gawk at something they can never have, wasting the publics' tax money. They had ought to just cut off their throats."

Scowling, Temari turned back around and continued her work. Tenten and Ino hastily worked, eyes wide in surprise at the harsh comments of Temari. Hinata nervously glanced around before decided to finish up her notes and Sakura decided to watch Hinata, pondering over the words of Temari.

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(Konoha High School Entrance)

Two sleek black sports cars drove up to the entrance of the Konoha University. As the gates to the school opened, a swarm of screaming boys and girls gathered around the cars, pushing and jostling one another. When the cars stopped, the driver rushed from the front seat and hurriedly opened the back seat, bowing. A handsome young man with raven hair that stuck oddly up in the back exited. A look of disgust crossed his face as fan-girls and fan-boys alike threw themselves at him, hoping for him to turn his attention upon them. Jerking his head a bit, guards quickly stationed themselves around him, pushing the crowd away from him so that he could enter the building.

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(Chemistry Lab)

The once peace and quiet of the room was pierced by the distant sounds of shouting. Sakura turned to look out the balcony to see what the commotion was all about. However, before she could do so, Temari, without lifting her eyes from her diagram, said,

"It seems like the Prince is visiting, seeing how noisy it is outside."

Tenten and Ino were too busy, whining loudly about their project to hear Temari's comment. However, Sakura, who happened to be sitting next to her, peered over her shoulder. And just as Temari had predicted, the Prince was sitting on a couple of benches in a deserted portion of the school. Sakura noted that he had three other companions—Uzumaki Naruto, the dead-last troublemaker who Hinata had liked since they were in grade school; Nara Shikamaru, the laziest, yet brightest, person in their whole entire school, if not world; and lastly Hyuuga Neji, Hinata's stoic cousin, who, like her, had those rather creepy pearly white eyes. However, Sakura was not paying attention to his companions but instead Sasuke. He seemed to be staring up at them with his coal black eyes.

"Oh my gosh, is he staring at us?" Sakura gasped.

Hearing that, Ino and Tenten quickly dropped their pencils and rushed over to the balcony. When they realized that it indeed seemed as if the dashing Prince was staring at them, they began to call out.

"Prince! I don't have a boyfriend!"

"Prince charming, I'm right over here!"

Hearing all the commotion going on in the upper floors, the four boys turned towards them.

"Look, look, it's Hinata-chan! HEY HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto shouted up a greeting to Hinata. Grinning goofily, he turned around to talk to Sasuke, only to find him too staring, but not at the group of girls he was previously yelling to, but instead into a window.

"Hey, Sasuke, what are you staring at?"

Naruto immediately caught the attention of the other two boys who had begun to talk amongst themselves. They too, turned and looked up at what Sasuke was staring at. Soon, a lovely girl appeared in the window.

"Ne, isn't that Fuyuno Mika? She sure is a rare one. Now I realize you were staring at her the whole time, Sasuke!" Shikamaru remarked, lightly punching Sasuke on the shoulder. A tiny, nearly microscopic, grin appeared on Sasuke's face as he watched Mika warm-up.

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(Building A)

Carrying a bucket of dirty water and a rag, Sakura trudged down the hall.

'Why am I the one stuck with cleaning the room today when I didn't do anything? This isn't fair. I promise, I'm going to get you back for this Ino, Tenten.'

Too consumed in her thoughts, she didn't realize Sasuke in front of her. Suddenly, she bumped into him, splashing the dirty water onto the new shoes he had just changed into to. She gasped, looking up at him to apologize, only to realize whom exactly she had run into. Hesitantly, she looked down and saw the puddle of dirty water accumulating under his feet and the soaking wet shoes. Mentally kicking herself, she bowed, apologizing.

"I-I'm so sorry. I'll clean it up for you."

Sakura then took the rag she was carrying, bent down, and began wiping away the water on his shoes.

"Oh, it's so wet!"

"…Stop it."

However, Sakura paid no attention to Sasuke's words and continued wiping away the water. Irritated, he repeated himself, yelling.

"I told you to stop it!"

Shocked at his outburst, Sakura stopped wiping. Sasuke gingerly stepped out of the sodden sneakers, and slipped into the shoes he was previously wearing. As he turned away, he told Sakura,

"Just throw them out."

Kicking the shoes to emphasize his point, he walked away. Sakura, still clutching onto the rag, stood up and threw it down onto the floor outraged.

"What is with that guy? Just because he's the Prince…he's such a jerk! Sasuke, you're lucky I'm the only daughter in a family, so I held my anger. You had better be grateful, I won't be so kind the next time. That's a promise!"

Sakura stopped her soliloquy when she heard shoes running in her direction. Tenten and Ino slid to the floor, wrestling for the pair of shoes.

"Hey I got it first! I'm going to put this online!"

"No you aren't, I am!"

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Sakura's Note: Buildings B and C are where the people majoring in liberal arts such as journalism and theatre are located. People like me, majoring in mathematical and scientific studies, such as those preparing for medical school, are in Building A which has a totally different mood and environment. Because the Prince is majoring in journalism, the numbers have increased in Buildings B and C.

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(Building B)

Humming to herself and eating snacks Sakura wandered through the journalism building. She peered at the ads and posters hung on the notice board. Amidst the chatter and hum of students, Sakura heard a voice from the room next to the bulletin board she was glancing at.

"So, should we get married?"

"…What did you say?"

"You didn't hear me? I'm proposing to you know."

Creeping quietly, she peered in. A small gasp escaped her lips at the scene she saw. The Prince, Sasuke, was sitting on a desk in a deserted classroom, a beautiful young girl next to him. The girl looked down at her hands then back up at him.

"Look… I'm sorry, but we're still high school students. But what do you mean about marriage? You're just joking around, ne?"

'The Prince is proposing to that girl? Oh my god—this is definitely big news! A 19-year old Prince dreaming to get married to a girl in his school. Wow.'

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(Haruno Residence)

"Oh my goodness—what is this mess! She left her room without even any space to walk on! Oh GOD! This room is rotting. I must be going insane."

Haruno Atsumi stood in a pile of dirty clothes, papers, books, and god knows what else…a.k.a. her daughter Sakura's bedroom. As she grimaced at the unsightly room, her husband, dressed in casual clothing and an apron as well as rubber gloves, came into the room.

"Ah, so she left her room all dirty again. It's always a hide-and-seek game trying to find things in her room." He laughed as is wife looked at him in disgust.

"So… you find this funny?"

The Haruno matriarch exited the room, grabbing her cell phone from inside her purse and dialing her daughter's number. Her husband followed after her.

"Just leave her alone. You can just tell her when she gets home."

Atsumi just ignored her husband. Shrugging it off, Keito picked up a random object and began cleaning it.

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(Building B)

Unknowing to the drama going on at her house, Sakura continued to watch the Prince and his beautiful companion intently, hoping to learn more about the sudden proposal.

"It's a policy for royal families to get married at an early age. And in my case, because I'm the Prince, I might have to get married to a girl my parents decide unless I tell them I have a girl I want to get married to. Since we're good friends, it's better to get married to you than an unknown girl."

The girl next to him, wore a shocked expression on her face. She, after a moment of silence, told him in a regretful tone,

"I… don't want to ruin our friendship with this kind of stuff. And of course, the responsibility and dull living. And as you know, my dream is to become a world-renowned ballet dancer. I've been doing so great, and I don't want to give up now. If I become princess, don't I have to give up all those things?"

Sakura nodded understandingly, still hidden and unknown to the couple inside the room.

'She seems like a cool girl. I mean I would do the same thing—who would want to marry that jerk of a prince anyways?'

The girl gave Sasuke a small smile, albeit the sad eyes she displayed. However, Sasuke did to return her smile, but instead looked down, a small hint of pain evident in his eyes.

'Aww, look at his sad eyes!'

At that very moment, breaking the silence from before, Sakura's cell phone began to ring to the tune of Trépak—the famous Nutcracker piece.

'Oh no, oh no!'

Sakura grabbed her phone, looking at who called her. She peered back into the room only to find the couple staring out the door, wondering who had been eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Who's out there?"

Sakura began to run away until the Prince shouted out a command after her.

"Halt!"

She stopped, not daring to turn around.

"Who are you?"

Instead of replying to him, she began to recite the chemical properties of all the elements on the periodic table—hoping he would believe she was an innocent student and not suspect her as the person listening in on his conversation. However, her miserable tactic failed to work.

"I'm saying, did you hear anything?"

When Sakura failed to respond yet again, Sasuke began to grow impatient.

" Hey, turn this way. Did you eavesdrop on our conversation? What did you hear?"

Sasuke began to advance, his patience nearly all run out. Panicking, Sakura ran towards the exit, leaving Sasuke screaming after her.

"Halt! Gym pants! Halt!"

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(Haruno Residence)

"Now she's even ignoring my phone calls!"

Atsumi punched Sakura's number into her phone again. Keito, still cleaning, chided her.

"Stop it now. Just wait until she comes back home."

"Since when did you care about your children? Is that why you brought this—" Atsumi slammed her hand onto a large stack of financial bills,"—upon our house, because you care about our children? Do you want me to read it for you? Notice of bad credit, penalty report, …what's this? Detailed bill of your credit card. Do I need to continue paying for your food after you brought great danger to this house by lending money to a "friend"?"

Keito grabbed the pile of notices from her, flipping through them. Every once in a while during her ranting, he made faces of astonishment and surprise. Wearily, Atsumi sighed.

"Let's divorce. I can't live like this anymore. Let's split up officially this time."

"Hey, aren't you tired of saying that?" Keito asked her indignantly. "Always saying 'let's get a divorce!'" Looking down at the bills again, he quieted down. "What if those guys confiscate the house? This is the second time already and the phone calls are getting serious."

At that very moment, the doorbell rang. Atsumi and Keito, their previous argument forgotten, looked at one another worriedly. Keito motioned for Atsumi to answer the, however she mouthed back 'you do it.' Hesitantly he went over to the phone and answered it.

"H-hello?"

"Hello, I am from the Palace."

"The Palace?"

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Atsumi, carrying a tray of tea, re-entered the living room where Keito sat with two officials from the palace.

"Oh, I see!" Keito laughed. "That's our daughter." He told them as they picked up the picture frames on the coffee table.

The officials glanced at some more pictures before setting them down. One of them extracted a bow, and when he opened the lid, revealed a golden ring and what seemed to be a broken half of a circle. He placed them before the Haruno's.

"These are tokens for the promise made between the recently deceased King Uchiha Tohma and Mr. Haruno."

Atsumi and Keito picked up the bow and peered inside. Once they caught sight of the items, they gasped, picking up the items, dumbfounded. After much examination, they confirmed it indeed was gold.

"Oh my god. This is real…" They happily bowed to the officials, who bowed back in respect.

"The royal families are waiting for the engagement ring. You are holding onto it safely, right?"

After he said that, the once happy expressions of Atsumi and Keito's faces quickly melted away.

"O-of course. Of course we are! We have stored it in a very safe place."

Atsumi looked over at Keito and mouthed 'where is it?' He made a face, motioning her to be silent. Turning back to the officials, he put another large smile on his face. The stood up and showed them the way out, bowing. As soon as the cars pulled out, they turned to face each other and dashed back into the house, looking for the ring.

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So, who is this mysterious girl Sasuke proposed to? What is this agreement the Haruno family have made with the Royal Family? And how in the world is Sakura going to escape the dilemma she's in?

Next Time, Chapter 2: Engaged…to him?

"The Crown Prince is going to marry a person like me? That's ridiculous!"

-Haruno Sakura

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Unmei: Okay, so I know it's kinda… bad. First off, you never get to know Sakura's parent's names right? So, I just made some up. Secondly, I know she becomes a medic, so why is she majoring in chemistry? Well, you can't go to medical school until you get a degree in something (right?), so that's why she's getting a degree in chemistry first. Um, also, I know it's different from the drama b/c Chaegyung (the main char.) majors in art, but we can't have Sakura majoring in that know can we? Also, her friends apparently major in art as well, but I can't imagine Ino majoring in chemistry as well, so I had to add a twist in there. Um, please read and review, and give me some feedback about what you think about it. I'm not a very good writer, so I'll take any advice, whether it's good or bad. Hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Engaged to him?

Unmei: Only 12 reviews… was it really that bad? I know it's more than I usually get and I should be grateful, but I really thought I would get more b/c well, I thought it was pretty good actually… unlike my other fics. Well, I can't be greedy and should be happy that I even got that many, ne?

Disclaimer: If my imagination was better I probably could think up of better stories without having to base it on something that already exists. Oh, yeah, and I don't own Naruto or Goong (a.k.a Princess Hours), the Korean drama I'm basing this fic off of.

Unmei: Well, onto the second chapter!

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Princess Hours

Chapter 2: Engaged…to him?

Unmei no Hana

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(Konoha High School Entrance)

Crowds of boys and girls crowded around the entrance of Konoha High School to bid farewell to the Prince. Screaming and pushing one another, they hoped to gain his attention. As in the morning, guards were surrounding the Prince, clearing the way for him and pushing fellow students out of the path of the cars. However, Sasuke paid no heed to them, not evening sparing them a disgusted look. Instead, his face held a downcast, sad expression. Slowly, he entered the car and drove away. As he left, the crowd of fans ran after his car. Tenten and Ino were screaming after him as well, but were prevented from running after the car as well, for they were being held back by Hinata, Sakura, and Temari. When his car was finally out of sight, they collapsed onto the steps.

"Oh! I think I'm going to faint!" Ino said, falling backwards onto Temari slightly.

"I wonder who's the girl the Prince is going to get married to."

After Tenten said this, Sakura motioned her friends to gather around her. Whispering, she told them,

"Hey you guys! Do you want me to tell you whom he's getting married to?"

"Marry? Who's the girl? She's dead!"

However, Temari butted into their conversation at that moment.

"Hey, Haruno, how would you know?"

"Well the thing is…I've heard and seen some things…" She told them rather reluctantly after remembering the private conversation she accidentally eavesdropped upon. Ino and Tenten huddled closer to her, shaking her by the shoulders slightly in an attempt to squeeze more information out of her.

"What is it, Sakura? Tell us."

"I want to tell too, but…"

Getting uncomfortable Sakura jumped onto her bicycle and cycled away, leaving a disappointed Ino and Tenten behind.

"Sakura!" They whined after her.

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(Downtown Konoha)

Sakura biked around Konoha, admiring the scenery. She stopped by the flower shop, greeting the owner, who happened to be Ino's mother. Unbeknownst to her, Sasuke was reading the newspaper in the car that had stopped at the light in front of the shop. Sighing from boredom he folded up the paper and looked out the window. He saw Sakura on her bike talking to the owner of the store as well as other students returning home from school. At first he paid no attention to Sakura until he realized she was wearing gym pants underneath her uniform's skirt.

'She's wearing gym pants… and that pink hair of hers. She has to be the one.'

As he was bout to exit from the car, the traffic light turned green and the car began to drive forward. However, much to Sakura's great misfortune, although she didn't know it yet, Sasuke commanded the driver to stop. Obeying the Prince's command, the car pulled into a side street and stopped for him. Sasuke stepped out of the car, calling out to Sakura.

"Hey, you. Gym pants!"

Sakura had begun to bike down a narrow alleyway, having said goodbye to Ino's mother, but hearing that ever-familiar voice, froze. Hesitantly, hoping to be imagining things, she turned around. But when she caught sight of Sasuke walking towards her, she immediately turned around, scolding herself mentally.

'Sakura, you're so stupid, why did you have to turn around? You should have kept on going and not stopped.'

Sasuke walked in front of Sakura, turning to face her. She was not looking at him, but instead at the ground, hoping he would go away soon.

"I didn't tell anyone…if you're wondering." However, Sasuke paid no regard to what she said, and instead replied,

"It may be gossip to you, but it's serious to me."

"What's wrong with you? I told you I didn't tell anyone." She told him, looking up at him crossly.

"So that means you did hear something." Sakura realized her mistake after he said that and looked down at the ground again. "Anyways, listen carefully," Sasuke continued, "If you spread false rumors then not only I, but you as well, will be in danger."

He was cut short when the pair heard the click of a photograph being taken. He turned around and saw a couple of photographers raise their cameras and continue to rapidly take photos of the two of them. Sakura, curious as to what the sound was as well, looked past Sasuke, but stopped when Sasuke suddenly slammed his hand onto the wall next to her, concealing her from the view of the cameras. As he did that, several guards ran up to the photographers.

"Hey what are you doing? You can't do that!"

They wrestled the cameras out of the hands of the photographers. Sasuke, when he was sure the situation was cleared up, turned back to Sakura.

"I'll leave first, then you leave a little later. And—I'm warning you—if you spread rumors, you will endanger yourself."

He then turned away from her and walked back to his car. As soon as he had left, Sakura slumped down on her bicycle, sighing.

"Mou, what is with that guy? He's so demanding, just because he's the prince."

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(Hi no Kuni Palace)

"Yoshino-sama, Mikoto-jyou-sama (1.) has arrived."

Yoshino-sama looked up from the calligraphy she had been previously doing and saw her daughter-in-law walk in, a gloomy look upon her face. Anxiously, she asked her,

"How is the king feeling?"

"He is…okay."

"Why is your expression like that if he is okay, then?"

"The king wants me to bring word to you that he is feeling okay. However, things… are not looking good."

Yoshino-sama wearily closed her eyes for a moment, as if attempting to absorb all the news she had just received. When at last she had re-opened her eyes, she nodded slightly to the maid who was standing near them. On cue, the maid picked up a scroll and presented it to Queen Mikoto. Hesitantly, she took the scroll from the hands of the maid and slowly unrolled it. As she read it, Yoshino-sama explained to her,

"There are some important aspects of preparation for the crown prince's wedding. The king has already assigned the positions. You will have to cooperate as to prevent any errors from occurring."

"I understand." Mikoto-sama replied. However, she was not able to conceal the reluctance in her voice from Yoshino-sama.

"You are feeling that this entire wedding is being forced upon him, am I correct? And why everything has come down to this, right?"

"I…can understand why." Although she was not satisfied with this answer, Yoshino-sama knew better than to question further. Instead, she chose to change the subject to something else.

"The wedding is on the way and there's still no news of Sai and his mother who went to Kiri no Kuni?"

"I am sorry, but there is not any news."

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(Kiri no Kuni)

A young man lied sleeping upon a couch, a book clutched tightly in his hand. He had raven black hair that fell carelessly around his face. Sunlight poured through the open windows as he peacefully slept, oblivious of the door opening. A beautiful woman in her mid-40's entered. She took a glance at the boy sleeping on the couch before she muttered,

"Ara, ara, what is this? Sleeping here again." She sat upon the couch as well. Bending over, she gently pried the book out of the boy's hands. "Reading books overnight again?" She smiled and leaned over, placing a hand upon the boy's hand that was now empty. "Sasuke is getting married." This comment seemed to wake the boy up instantly. Groggily he fluttered his eyes open, revealing coal black eyes.

"Eh? Really?" The boy placed a hand upon his head as he slowly lifted himself to a sitting position.

"Yes, it's true. The wedding is very sudden. I have no idea, but there must be something going on in the palace to have made them make such an abrupt decision." She paused a while before continuing. "You will return to Hi no Kuni first. I will settle matters here first and return as well." The boy still did not reply, but instead gazed off to nowhere. The woman looked down to her folded hands before she once again continued. "It's been 14 years already. It's time to take action."

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(Hi no Kuni Palace)

Sasuke lazily sat upon a chair, his body posture showing his boredom.

"So have you decided?" He turned his head towards the origin of the voice, replying,

"Decided what? What do you mean?" Present with him in the room were Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto, king and queen of Hi no Kuni. Queen Mikoto was dressed in traditional Hi no Kuni clothes, in a beautiful shade of wine red with gold embroidery. In contrast, King Fugaku was dressed in a more modern suit. Fugaku promptly answered his son's question.

"About getting a wife." Sasuke carelessly sighed and looked away from his parents defiantly.

"What has that got to do with my decision?" When his parents did not answer, he grabbed a packet from the table before him, flipping through the pages. "What kind of friendship is this to have made them make such a promise?"

"It is a promise between your grandfather and his only true friend," Queen Mikoto replied for her husband.

"You mean a king can have a true friend?" Sasuke asked cynically. King Fugaku abruptly placed the cup he had been drinking from back onto its saucer. Taken aback, Mikoto reprimanded her son.

"Ouji-sama (2.), what kind of attitude are you showing your father?" To further show his defiance, Sasuke refused to look up at his parents, but instead fiddled with the sleeves of his suit, as if showing that he was ignoring them. Mikoto took a deep breath, ready to continue when Fugaku interrupted.

"Yes. Like you say, the role of a king is lonely and isolated. So that is why it is necessary to have a true friend who understands. Your grandfather is lucky to have such a friend and wished to repay his friend with a present." Sasuke snorted in contempt at this comment. Ignoring this, Mikoto continued on for her husband.

"That is why he had the ring and token sent to his friend, along with the letter in your hands." Sasuke once again picked up the letter he had previously discarded.

"This is funny: 'The engagement of the Prince and the granddaughter of my royal friend.'" He read in a mocking tone. "And you're saying it's me, right?"

"To be precise, it isn't. I'm just saying, it wasn't then." Fugaku clarified when Sasuke shot a questioning glance at him. "As you know, when the agreement was made, Masao-nii-sama was still the king and the grandson in line for the throne was not you, but Sai. Since the death of my brother and the banishment of his wife and son, the contract now applies to you." Fugaku paused. "Anyways, what's important is how you feel. I won't force you to do things that you don't wish to do."

-----

(Haruno Residence)

Sakura entered her house, fixing her hair in the mirror. Once she was satisfied she took of her shoes and entered the main portion.

"I'm ho—."

She stopped halfway, looking at the scene before her. All of the furniture was turned over, drawers were pulled out and all their contents were spilled out, cups and plates were thrown from the cupboard, items on shelves were discarded. All in all, the place was a mess. Slowly, Sakura made her way through the clutter of the front room and made her way into the living room.

"Why is the house in such a mess? What is all of this? And mom says my room is messy…"

She began to call out for her parents again until she noticed a stack of papers and envelopes. Making her way over to them, she curiously picked them up and read their contents.

"Variation of property? What is this?"

Sakura ran out of the house and into her backyard, still clutching the papers in her hands. There she found her mom sitting on a bench, a look of great distress upon her face. Atsumi looked up and when she saw her daughter approaching with the papers in her hands, let out a sigh and looked away from her. Sakura sat down beside her mother and attempted to look her in the eye.

"Okaa-san, do you want a divorce?" When her mom did not reply, she continued. "Don't. Everytime time you do this, I get hurt emotionally." Sakura leaned over and gave her mom a great hug, collapsing onto her causing the Haruno matriarch to let out a grunt.

"I am very tired, and you are very heavy."

Satisfied that her mother finally had said something, Sakura, with a broad smile on her face, let go and sat back. She then looked at the papers once again.

"But what is this? Legal cooperation?"

"The loan sharks are hounding us again. Don't worry about it." Atsumi once again placed a gloomy look upon her face. Sakura, saddened by this, put on a brave face and took her mothers hands.

"Okaa-san, when I am successful I will put an end to all of this. There will only be happy days for all of us. Please, believe in the eldest daughter!" Atsumi looked skeptically up at her daughter.

"Then Princess Sakura, how are you going to succeed?" With a noble look upon her face, Sakura replied,

"Medic. The best medic of all time." Atsumi rolled her eyes and told Sakura,

"Stop talking nonsense."

"Yes." Sakura replied obediently. Then, she asked her mother,

"Okaa-san, can you please buy me that medical book? Please!"

"Look at this house. I am stressed enough already. Please, do not stress me further." Sakura was about to reply when her mother's cell phone went off. Hurriedly, Atsumi reached for her phone and opened it.

"This is Haruno Atsumi, how may I help you?"

Dejected, Sakura made her way back into the house. Looking out the window, she heard faint noises coming from her parents' room. Curious as to what they were, Sakura went to her parents' room and stopped outside the open door, peering inside. The room was a mess resembling all the other rooms in the house and, sitting in the middle, seemingly the origin for the mess, was the Haruno patriarch, emptying a basket full of papers.

"Is it here? No… How about here then?" Sakura crept up behind him, curious as to what he was searching for.

"Dad?" Keito, startled at her sudden comment, jumped up and turned around.

"Ah! You scared me!" However, once he had said this, Keito turned back to the already messy and room and proceeded to continue emptying out various storage items. Sakura came up behind him, wondering as to what he was looking for. Inquisitively, she asked,

"Are you looking for a friend?"

"No, no, looking for a treasure." Keito told his daughter, not even sparing her a glance. Frustrated, he threw up his hands. "I really can't find it."

"Why? Did you lose something?"

"Yes. A ring." To emphasize his point, he gestured at the wedding ring he was wearing. "Your grandfather left it to us when he passed away." After he told Sakura that, he began to throw a slight tantrum, muttering things to himself and throwing items around even more. Ignoring her father's childish behaviors, Sakura contemplated for a moment before a bright look appeared on her face.

"Oh, that!" The Haruno patriarch stopped his whining and looked up at his daughter.

"Huh?"

"You do mean the one we placed over there when we moved, right?" Frantically, Keito asked his daughter,

"Where?" Sakura led her father out of the room he had completely destroyed into what remained of the kitchen. She crouched down and peered at the bottom of one the kitchen table's legs. Spotting the ring, she exclaimed,

"There it is! Lift up the table." Clearly out of shape, Keito attempted to lift up the table, failing miserably. At last, after much encouragement from his daughter, he was finally able to lift it up far enough to enable Sakura to retrieve the ring.

"Tada!" She began to ramble off about it when Keito seized it from her. Holding it up to the light in order to inspect it better, a goofy grin appeared on his face. Turning to a daughter, he hugged her, screaming out,

"Yes this is it! We found it! My wife! We have found it!" Atsumi immediately rushed into the house when she heard the uproar caused by her husband. She too, after seeing the ring, began screaming rejoices and jumping around.

"Yes! Happiness is finally here! Banzai!" Sakura's parents, so overcome with happiness, began to scream even more, throwing their hands up into the air.

"Banzai!"

"Banzai!" Uncertainly, Sakura also lifted up her hands, unsure as to what sparked her parents' sudden reaction.

"Banzai?"

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace0

Unaware of the happiness occurring in the Haruno Residence, Uchiha Fugaku held out picture in front of his son, Uchiha Sasuke.

"This is a picture of the girl you are going to marry. For some reason, whether it is by fate or coincidence, she happens to go to your school."

"What? She's from my school?"

"Yes, from the science department." Sasuke grabbed the picture, trying not to seem too curious. After close inspection, his eyes began to grow wide and bulge out of their sockets. Staring at him with a huge smile upon her face, sat Sakura holding out a "v" sign.

-----

(Haruno Residence)

"THIS IS NONSENSE! Give me the ring and the token right now. I'm going to return everything to them." A very distressed Sakura screamed. As she continued her tirade, her parents frantically shoved the ring and token into a ceramic container. "Which bus should I take to get to the Palace?" Her younger brother, Haruno Shouta, looked up from the TV and told her mockingly,

"You can't do that, future crown princess."

"Yes. That's right. Don't you agree husband?" Atsumi agreed with her son.

"Of course!" Hysterical at her family's lack of support, Sakura whined,

"What are you all talking about? I'm throwing this out right away." She seized the container and headed towards the door. But, her father, who happened to stand in her path, reached out and held onto the container as she passed, attempting to tug it from her.

"Wait! You can't do that; give it to me." Shocked at her father's mild, yet firm, demand, Sakura stopped struggling. Protesting, she asked her family,

"What century are we living in for me to have such an old-fashioned engagement? How old am I? I'm still a high school student!" Getting up from her seat, Atsumi walked over to her daughter, attempting to comfort her,

"Sakura, I will you buy several new medical books." A happy grin began to appear on Sakura's face before being replaced once again by one of distraught.

"Now is not the time to be discussing about medical books!" Closing her eyes in frustration, Sakura sank onto a chair. "The Crown Prince is going to marry a person like me? That's ridiculous!"

"What are you talking about?" Haruno Keito asked his daughter. "Didn't you hear the phone call from the palace?" Keito put on a very smug grin before continuing. "The Prince is willing to accept this engagement." However, this did not comfort Sakura one bit.

"I don't want to! I have no idea why he agreed to this. He has a beautiful girlfriend." At this statement, all the head's of her family turned to her in shock. Sakura ignored them. "And I saw him proposing to her."

"What? Who?" Shouta asked dumbfound.

"What? The Crown Prince?" Keito inquired surprised.

"Propose to whom?" Atsumi queried, clearly shocked.

"She is from our dance department," Sakura told her family grudgingly. "She is from a wealthy family and is the only daughter. She is beautiful and does ballet very well. He must've lost his mind momentarily when she rejected him."

"He got rejected? Who? Who got rejected?" Shouta asked, more so to himself than anyone else, clearly still confused.

"Anyways, this engagement is hereby voided. You people can forget about this." Sakura stomped to her room, shooting her family a dirty look.

"Wait. Sakura…" Atsumi called out to her daughter. She turned to Keito, who still held the container in his hands, inquiringly.

-----

1. Mikoto-jyou-sama: Queen Mikoto (Jyou-sama: Queen)

2. Ouji-sama: Prince

FYI:

Ou-sama: King

Oujyou-sama: Princess (synonym of 'hime')

-----

Once again, who is this mysterious girl that Sasuke proposed to? Why did Sai and his mother move to another country? Does this mean he and Sasuke are cousins? And is Sakura finally going to accept the engagement?

Next time, Chapter 3: Raison d'être

"Because you will be part of the Royal Family, you're family will receive things to secure your household's reputation."

-Uchiha Mikoto

-----

Unmei: Whew, finally done. I can't believe I've written two chapters and I'm not even done with covering episode 1…out of 24 total episodes! Boy, either this fic is going to be very long or I'm going to have to cut some parts out… but I'd rather not do that.

Anyways, time for some explanation time, first off, yes I know Sakura is an only child, but for purposes of sticking fairly close to the drama I gave her a younger brother. Also, so you're not confused, Yoshino-sama is the mother of Fugaku-sama, the king of Hi no Kuni. In addition, when Atsumi calls Sakura "Princess Sakura" it is not because Sakura is princess-to-be, but because as Chaegyung states in the original drama (and which I left out), she is "treated as a princess at her house." And, lastly, thank you to all my WONDERFUL reviewers—I don't know what I would do without all of your support!

Justine Nicole: Hopefully this was fast enough updating for you. Yes, there will be slight Sasuke x OC, but no need to worry; this is truly a SasuSaku fic in the end, with many love triangles, of course. Thank you for all your support!

everlastingxwish: Haha, yea, I can't exactly imagine Sasuke saying "halt" either, but oh well. I find Sakura's family very hilarious throughout the course of the whole drama, although you see less of them as it goes on, unfortunately. Thanks for reviewing and giving me support. Hope you continue to read and review!

xox.Annie Potter.xox: Meh, good point, biology _would've_ been much more helpful to Sakura. Apparently, I subconsciously didn't want to think about it (having just taken the final). Heh, oh well, I'm sure chemistry can help er… some? Anyways, thanks for reviewing! Hopefully you'll continue to enjoy the fic.

aznmelon: Yes, I did "rip" this off of Goong (a.k.a. Princess Hours). But, just so you know, I did acknowledge that in my disclaimer, so no, I'm not trying to claim its storyline for my own original idea. Hope you'll continue to read and review!

And to saki, 1taCh1's GuRLie, animemanga-luver-4ever, ShamanShadow, clearsunrise, Diana-san, chie, and last, but certainly not least, Silver Spirit, thank you ALL for reviewing. I LOVE all of you soo much! Please, keep on reading (and of course reviewing!) This is Unmei no Hana signing off. 'Til next time! Ja ne!


	3. Raison d'Etre

Unmei: I have FINALLY found a place to download, er I mean, uh… get my subtitled episodes of Goong. The first place where I watched them was YouTube so it wasn't like I was downloading them, just watching them on the internet. But then the person took them down and only the unsubtitled ones were left. Therefore I had to uhh, do some less than legal things. But, if you are some government person in disguise, don't worry. I'm not selling them for profit or anything. They're just for my personal enjoyment, so don't take me to jail. Okay, um, anyways, disclaimer time.

Disclaimer: Downloading shouldn't be illegal… but I know why it is. Ah, damn you government. You make life so hard. Oh, and I don't own Naruto or Goong, but it would be awesome if I did.

-----

Chapter 3: Raison d'être

Princess Hours

Unmei no Hana

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace)

It was typical for the male members of the royal household to train with some type of an ancient weapon. And thus, Sasuke was training with a kunai when an advisor by the name of Kakashi came to speak with him.

"The queen is willing to let you have your way and lessen the number of guards that accompany at school. However, she is unable to grant your other request, for if the guards were to be stationed outside of the school gates, it will be inconvenient for them." Sasuke didn't even turn around to acknowledge Kakashi as he was speaking. Instead, he reached into his pocket, took out a kunai and threw it at a target, hitting it dead in the center. Hesitantly, Kakashi inquired, "You are unwilling to accept this engagement and therefore are doing this? It this proves to be true, the days following the marriage will prove to be difficult. Please think twice about this." After he threw another kunai, Sasuke replied.

"Mother has no other requests?"

"The queen is busy enough regarding the engagement and is very worried that the new princess will not be easily accepted by the elders and other royalties."

"Do you think that way as well?"

"I… do not dare to make any comment." Kakashi told him respectfully, bowing his head faintly. Sasuke, slightly irritated at his comment, decided to ask another question.

"Don't you think this is funny? This is the 21st century, and there are still such things as arranged marriages. However, it's okay. I am getting bored, and although she may not be up to standards, I believe she will bring something refreshing to the palace's stuffy atmosphere." He smirked slightly and threw yet another kunai at a target.

-----

(Konoha High school)

The school was full of chatter and laughter as usual. Sakura, Ino and Tenten were playfully wrestling with one another slightly in the main hall. Sakura pulled out of Tenten's grip and accidentally stumbled into Fuyuno Mika who happened to be passing by. Immediately Sakura turned around to apologize profusely to the person who she had run into. As soon as she turned around and caught a glimpse of Mika, the large, but apologetic, smile that was plastered onto her face melted away.

'That's…the girl who the Prince proposed to….'

For several seconds, the two girls stared at one another—Mika indifferently, Sakura uncomfortably. Sakura bowed down to look at the ground as Mika turned away coldly, brushing off invisible particles from her shoulder. Looking up at Mika once again, Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but when Mika turned around again, she quickly shut her mouth. With a face of what almost seemed to be regret, Mika turned around and walked away.

-----

(Building B, Dance Room)

Mika walked into the dance room as another group of ballerinas were practicing. She made her way inside a connected room, where personal lockers were located, and opened hers up. As she began to change into her practice clothes, she overheard a group of girls in the corner of the dance room gossiping.

"This is top news I tell you. Everyone at the palace is so tense due to the upcoming marriage of the Crown Prince." Mika paused in the process of hanging her jacket up, listening to them.

"Really? Who did you hear that from?"

"From my dad—he works at the palace as a guard."

"My gosh. Then it has to be true."

"Of course it's true. And there's even more to it." The girl paused, looking around to see if anyone was listening to her, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "He said that the princess-to-be is someone from our school!" At this comment, a surprised look crossed over Mika's face.

"Who is it? Do you know?"

"Unfortunately, I don't know that."

"Oh my god… someone from our school? Who could it be? Me?" The two girls giggled a bit at that comment.

"Okay forget it. We should get back to practice." Mika smiled to herself, slightly amused, and made a note to search for Sasuke after her practice was finished.

-----

(Building C, Practice Rooms)

Students majoring in music oftentimes went to the practice halls where rooms were located in which they could practice. However not only them, but also other students who had interests in music or played an instrument as a hobby or for personal enjoyment, visited the practice rooms. It was there, in a practice room, where Mika found Sasuke after school, practicing the piano. She knocked on the door before letting herself in and sitting on a bench. Sasuke ceased playing the piano, however he did not turn around to acknowledge her. Mika, used to his cold behavior, began to talk.

"What kind of rumors are these? Are they talking about me?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about. You should know that I don't bother to pay attention to gossip."

"Well, then I shall inform you. It's all over the school, by the way. They say that the princess-to-be is someone from our school. Didn't we promise to keep our relationship a secret until we entered college? And I thought I told you we were too young to get married." Sasuke looked up, a smirk present upon his face.

"Do not worry. It's not you they're talking about." At this comment, a look of extreme shock crossed Mika's face.

"What?" Sasuke, however did not pay attention to her question, and instead went on to say,

"I just got to know as well. But it's not you." Mika was at a loss for words.

"Who…who is it?" Once again, Sasuke did not answer her question.

"Oftentimes, royalties and those surrounded by royalties, find themselves in situations where nothing makes sense. This situation happens to be one of them. Situations like passing by a room and hearing her future husband proposing to another girl." A slightly confused look replaced the look of astonishment once present on Mika's face. However, another look, one of revelation, crossed Mika's face as she said,

"So it's…" Sasuke merely nodded his head.

-----

(Haruno household)

Night had enveloped Hi no Kuni and the chorus of bugs could be heard. However, Sakura was oblivious to all of this as she absentmindedly arranged a bouquet of flowers in a vase. Her family huddled around the doorway, pretending to be cleaning, but instead watching and listening, observing her every move. Suddenly, Sakura raised up her arms, hands clenched, with a face of determination.

"Okay! Since I'm going to get married someday, might as well get married now." In the background, her family jumped up and down, clapping hands together, rejoicing at her words. Soon afterwards, Sakura lowered her hands, shaking her head.

"No, I can't do that. I'm still young. And I have a future to contemplate over." Her family instantly sobered up, sighing in frustration over her words. But then, the determined look once again crossed Sakura's face.

"But… this is a chance of a lifetime. Might as well grab hold of it." Atsumi, Keito, and Shouta once again rejoiced, giving each other a hug and pumping their fists into the air. Their joy was instantly dampened once Sakura, yet again, shook her head, and lightly pounded on it, as if trying to knock some sense into her brain.

"No, no, no, no… get a hold of yourself. Do not lose your senses. Be logical." Sighs echoed through the hallway.

"To marry?" Rejoicing.

"Or not to marry?" Lamenting. Suspiciously, Sakura whipped behind and stared at her family accusingly. They, immediately, pretended to clean, wiping the floor, dusting shelves, etc. Atsumi turned to her daughter a short while afterwards.

"Princess Sakura. Have you finished preparing what you're going to say to the Queen tomorrow during your visit to the palace?" Sakura spun around again, her voice slightly outraged.

"Are you crazy? Why do I have to see her?" Her father, Keito, interjected, saying,

"But we already have an appointment with her." Defiantly, Sakura walked to her room, saying as she went,

"I don't care. I never made an appointment. It has nothing to do with me."

-----

Sakura sat in her room, reading an old tattered book and taking notes diligently. Shouta quietly crept down a flight of stairs that led from the attic where he slept into Sakura's room. He then sat on Sakura's bed, saying,

"The third most respected woman in Hi no Kuni, why are you reading that old dusty book?" Sakura sat her pencil down in frustration and let out a sigh.

"What on earth are you talking about? Third most respected woman? As if."

"You sure are stupid for someone wanting to become a medic. Surely you know that the most respected woman is the King's mother, second, the Queen, and third Crown Princess—that's you forehead girl." A vein popped out on Sakura's forehead as she turned around in her chair and lightly kicked Shouta.

"You! How can you call your sister such names?"

"How about this, if you get married to the Crown Prince, I'll call you my sister."

"Do you really think I'm going to get married?"

"Sakura, just get married. I'm sick of climbing up and down those stairs to the attic. If you get married, this whole room will be mine. And it's also good for you. You won't have to complain about me being noisy if I'm not around to bug you."

"Well then, that's too bad for you. You can forget about me getting married." Shouta fumed slightly.

"Fine then, if you don't want to, I will. I'm much prettier than you anyways, and much better as well. There's no way the Crown Prince will choose you over me." With that, he stood up, ready to run. Sakura turned to him again, a very murderous intent in her eyes.

"You wanna die?" Shouta started to run out of the room. "Don't you run!" However, Sakura slipped on her blankets on the floor, allowing Shouta to escape. But, before he left the room, he turned around in order to mock her one last time.

"Forehead girl."

-----

The next morning Sakura sat in her parents' room, allowing Atsumi to fix her hair. Once she was done, Atsumi sat back to examine her work and, satisfied, muttered a word of approval. Sakura simply stared at her reflection in the mirror as her father complimented her as well, a sad look upon her face. Atsumi started to put makeup upon Sakura's face when Sakura suddenly whipped around to face her family. With a slight pout present, Sakura told them,

"I told you I'm going to see the Queen and I'm not going to get married. Why are you people doing this?" An uncomfortable silence followed. Atsumi and Keito looked at each other—Atsumi frustrated, Keito guiltily. Sakura broke the silence.

"Dad's business went bankrupt, that I know. And because of that, he has been unemployed for a whole year. And mom works hard to support us all. I know both of you have worked so hard for me but…" A hopeful looked appeared on Sakura's parents' faces.

"But?"

"But…will you be happy selling me off like this?" Atsumi and Keito sighed, not sure what to say in reply to that. Instead, Keito grabbed the ring from Shouta, who was fiddling with it, and threw it into another portion of the house.

"Fine. Let's take it as if nothing ever happened." Atsumi motioned for Shouta to retrieve the ring as she reprimanded her husband.

"Are you crazy?"

"We shouldn't force her to do something against her wishes. Is money really everything? Is it?" Atsumi turned to him, and told him bluntly,

"Yes. It is everything." She then turned to Sakura. "You are still young and do not understand what is most important to women. What is most important to women is marriage." She paused a second before continuing. "I don't want you to be like me—living in a life with so many hardships. This is for your own good. We are not selling you off." When Sakura still did not say anything, Atsumi gave a resigned sigh and said, "It's your life and decisions. Just forget it. Forget it and…" She nudged Keito. He nodded understandingly, opened up a closet and took out a large, wrapped parcel. Setting it in front of Sakura, he motioned for her to open it. Hesitantly, she did so and a large book was revealed. She sat speechless as Keito told her,

"It's the newest edition." Sakura admired it for a moment then a perplexed look crossed her face. Slightly apprehensively, she asked,

"What's this for? It's very expensive." Sakura was about to say more but the ringing of the doorbell cut her off. Keito quietly said to her,

"I believe it's someone from the Palace…"

-----

Men in formal black suits walked around the house, sticking red stickers to any article that seemed to be of value. In the middle of the room that the men were currently stickering-up was Sakura, Atsumi, Keito, and Shouta, watching the men silently as they continued placing sticker after sticker onto their belongings. Keito turned to his family.

"My wife… this is my fault. I trusted the wrong friends and became his guardian for his loan. I am sorry."

"Enough. What's the use of saying it now?" Atsumi then went up to what seemed to be the boss of the men and pleadingly, hung onto his arm. "Please, do not do this. We will pay back the debt little by little." He promptly ignored her. To emphasize the fact, he went up to the book Sakura had just received and put a sticker upon it. Immediately, Sakura ran up to it, Atsumi and Keito following, tore the sticker off of it and said,

"No, no, not this." The man irritably pushed Sakura away and told the family,

"If you had repaid the money in the first place, we wouldn't have to do this." Atsumi, indignant, sized him up in a defiant manner.

"The interest is five time the original amount. How do you expect us to pay that? You… you bunch of bullies!" Another man, clearly irritated as well, threw down the basketball he was holding and screamed at them.

"You shouldn't be so brave. Do you not want to live in this house anymore? Is that what it is?" He pointed an accusing finger at Atsumi. Keito, in an attempt to defend his wife, tried to wave the man off.

"Hey! You shouldn't be saying this in front of the children."

"It is good for them. That way they won't end up like their father."

"That's not true. Be careful of what you say!"

"But, it is the truth." Then the man slapped a red sticker upon Keito's face. That was the last straw for the Haruno parents. They shoved the men, trying to push them out of their house. When the men tossed the couple off of them and into the walls, Sakura and Shouta assaulted them as well. Much screaming, kicking ensued. Items were thrown everywhere, including out of the house, and the sounds of breaking items rung throughout the air. They fought their way until they were outside of the house. One of the men dumped Keito into the garden. Atsumi and Sakura helped him out of it, seeing how he was too enraged to help himself out. Keito jumped in front of his family, separating them from the men.

"Be careful Sakura. These men are a bunch of gangsters." The largest one stepped up.

"Gangsters you say? I think you're craving a punch." As he raised his fist threateningly, Atsumi and Sakura screamed, trying to shield Keito from the behind. The man prepared to punch the group when the sound of a car door opening and closing was heard. He paused and he, as well as everyone else, turned around. They were met by the sight of men in black suits, seemingly from the palace, stepping out of a black car and with a puzzled expression, turning to look at them. Sakura stepped out of the embrace of her parents and turned to Shouta.

"Give me the ring." Shouta obliged. He dug through his pockets and took out a simple, yet elegant gold ring and placed it on Sakura's expectant hand. Sakura then turned around to look at her parents. She ripped the sticker off of Keito's face, who made a rather painful sounding noise, and then stepped past the group of loan sharks and proceeded towards the black car. Atsumi shouted at her from behind,

"Sakura! Wait! Where are you going? Your hair is a mess. Come back here." However, Sakura did not listen to what her mother, and other family members, were shouting and, hand clenched tightly over the ring, stepped into the car. After the car ride was almost over, Sakura peered out the window and saw her reflection. Touching her thoroughly messed up hair, she let out a yelp and, panicking, hurried to fix it.

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace)

A man in a black suit quickly exited from the black car and opened up the door for Sakura. She stepped out, her hair rather sloppily done, and viewed the palace with a resigned face. Somewhat grudgingly, she allowed for the men to escort her into the palace. As she entered the palace, her unwillingness soon turned to wonder. Passing from room to room, she peered into each one, amazed at the splendor and exquisiteness of each room. In one room, a group of beautifully dressed musicians were playing for a couple, in another room, a maid set a table with gorgeous china and decorations. Finally, Sakura and her entourage arrived at their desired destination. The men led her inside the room and to a long table. They pulled out a chair at one end of the table and motioned for her to sit down.

"Please, sit." When Sakura hesitated, they, a little more gently, repeated themselves. "It's okay, please sit down." Finally relenting, she walked up to the chair and sat down, allowing one of the men to push the chair in underneath her. Sakura nodded a quiet thank you. They then turned to her and said, "The queen will be here in just a moment. While you are here, I will brief you on the rules and manners of the Palace concerning the queen. First, do not make eye contact, second do not interrupt her. And do not forget, when you address her, you must call her 'Mikoto-jyou-sama. Please be patient, she will arrive here shortly." Sakura once again nodded her head to show she understood and at last they left her alone. When she was sure they were out of the room, Sakura curiously picked up a box in front of her and opened the lid up. She peeked in curiously only to find what looked like some sort of food. Suddenly, a group of maids came in, one carrying a tray that, upon it, were a teapot and a bowl much resembling that of a rice bowl upon a saucer. Sakura quickly closed the box with a loud clatter and pushed it away from her as one of the maids set the bowl and teapot in front of her carefully. The maid poured a bright crimson colored liquid into the bowl and opened up the lid of the box Sakura had previously been examining and pushed both of the items towards Sakura.

"Please, drink this tea." Sakura mutely nodded a yes and the maids left, leaving Sakura to be alone once again. Sakura examined the bowl and its contents.

"Is this really…tea?" Hesitantly she picked up the bowl and took a sip from it. She was pleased that it had a fruity and slightly tangy taste. She placed the bowl back onto the saucer and looked at the decorations of the room she was in. She spotted a colorful piece of cloth and excitedly went to examine. Running her fingers against the numerous amounts of carvings and cloths, Sakura was mystified.

"Wow… everything's so beautiful." She noticed something under a table and bent down to take a closer look at them, only to bump into another side table which toppled over, sending the huge vase that was upon it tumbling down as well. Panicking, Sakura leapt for the vase, and, miraculously, caught it. She set it back on the side table, sweating a bit.

"I will just sit down and not break anything, okay Sakura." Doing as she said, she sat down and went to drink another sip of the tea. However, Sakura was too busy staring at the vase, making sure it was okay, and, much to her chagrin, she placed the bowl on the edge of the saucer, causing it to fall into her lap. The liquid stained her white skirt a brilliant red color.

"Oh no… how could this have happened?" Sakura placed the bowl back onto the saucer and attempted to wipe some of the liquid off of her skirt, but her efforts were in vain. At that same time however, a voice rang through the room.

"Mikoto-jyou-sama has arrived." Sakura felt the blood drain out of her face.

"Oh no, this is such a dilemma." Pouring some more tea for herself, Sakura dipped her fingers into the liquid and flicked droplets onto her skirt, hoping to make it look intentional. She stood up and smoothed her skirt as the queen entered the room. Bowing respectfully, Sakura bunched the front of her skirt together, trying to conceal some of the stain. The queen wordlessly walked to the chair at the opposite side of the table. She settled herself into it before commanding Sakura to sit as well. Naturally, Sakura obeyed and did as she was told. Silence reigned for the next several, uneasy seconds as Mikoto drank the tea that was poured for her and slowly placed the two tokens, one which Sakura had brought, together, forming a circle. Finally, she spoke in an authoritative tone.

"The reason why I asked you to come to the palace was because I wanted to hear your opinion on this engagement."

"What? I mean… yes… Mikoto-jyou-sama."

"This was the former king's and your grandfather's promise. What do you think about it? It will be a large burden for you, because you are still a student, am I correct?"

"That is correct… Mikoto-jyou-sama."

"As bride-to-be, you have many duties. You must respect the elders, but most importantly, bring forth many children to ensure an heir to the throne. Also, I hope you understand that this is a very important marriage, and therefore cannot be done hastily." Before Mikoto could continue, Sakura, obviously forgetting the manners she was expected to follow, cut in.

"To tell you the truth, I came here to tell you that I will get married…Mikoto-jyou-sama." Mikoto was slightly shaken at the interruption, but nonetheless continued.

"Is that so? I thought you were strongly against the engagement." Sakura, decided to take another bold step.

"If you don't mind, may I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"You may not realize it but… this is the only choice I have. You most likely know this, but my dad is unemployed and my mom is an insurance salesperson."

"Your point is?"

"So, I'm guessing that even if I'm suffering, at least my parents can be comfortable…if I marry."

"I am guessing you would like a reasonable reward from this marriage?" A look of disbelief crossed the queen's face for a moment. "You are more shrewd than I first thought you to be. Are you making a proposal with this marriage?"

"It's not a proposal, but a request--."

"This is something you should not be involved in. However, because you will be part of the Royal Family, you're family will receive things to secure your household's reputation." A delighted look appeared on Sakura's face as she said,

"Thank you very much Mikoto-jyou-sama. Then, I will gladly marry." This did not comfort the queen at all. But, before she could reply, a voice once again rang through the room.

"Her Imperial Majesty is here." As Yoshino-sama entered the room, both Sakura and the queen rose to their feet and bowed. Yoshino-sama turned to Sakura, a large smile upon her face.

"So you are Haruno Sakura? Oh, you look much better in person, I must say. I've heard you accept this marriage proposal?"

"If you accept it, then I willingly do as well."

"Ah, I see." Yoshino-sama advanced closer to Sakura. "Oh, what is on your skirt?" Thoroughly embarrassed, Sakura attempted to cover up more of her skirt with her hands.

"This… ah, it's, uh." Noticing her discomfort, Yoshino-sama told Sakura to sit, which she gladly did. Yoshino-sama continued to talk when Sakura and the queen sat down.

"This marriage proposal has been a sudden event, and I'm sure a difficult decision on your part. If you do not mind, please tell me how you came to your decision." Tentatively, Sakura replied, not sure as to what to say.

"I came up with my decision, because, I… well I thought…" Sakura attempted to use the ancient language she had learned the royalties learned. However, since only royalties used it, common citizens, such as Sakura never learned it, therefore making it hard on Sakura. But despite that, Sakura trudged on, hoping that some of what she said would make sense, using the little vocabulary she had learned here and there. "You see, I am still a…" She noticed the puzzled expression on Yoshino-sama's face and quickly tried to say something else. "Our house got…" Yoshino-sama turned to the queen and asked,

"Do you know what she's talking about?"

"I am sorry, but I too, do not know. I picked up some adjectives and articles, but nothing makes sense." Both the queen and Yoshino-sama gave Sakura a confused expression and she looked down, squeezing her eyes shut in embarrassment.

-----

Sakura exited the room, both relieved to be away from the oppressive atmosphere, but also ashamed at the fool she made herself seem to be. The men that had previously been escorting her once again showed her the way, stopping at an elevator. There, the prince stood.

"Please, leave us alone for a moment. I would like to talk to her." The men did as they were asked and exited the room, bowing. Sakura, already tired from the humiliation she just received, stood quietly as Sasuke circled her.

"Although this was a reluctant marriage, you made the right choice. I must say, compared to those who live and work in the palace, you are very ordinary, easy… I believe you will be fun." Sakura was confused.

"What? Ordinary…easy…and fun?"

"You are like the main character of a cheerful comic." Sakura was outraged at this comic. Angrily, she thought to herself,

'What! Cheerful comic?' Fed up with the palace and its people, Sakura angrily pressed a random button and waited for the elevator to come. When it did she huffily entered it, repeatedly pressing the close button. The last image she saw before the doors close was Sasuke, his trademark smirk and half-closed eyes present upon his face.

-----

It is finally revealed whom the Prince originally proposed to! But, will she accept this marriage quietly, or try to win Sasuke back? And, how will all Sakura's friends and peers at school react when they realize that Sakura is the Crown Princess? Stay tuned to find out, next time on Princess Hours.

Next time, Chapter 4: Entering the Palace

"We have to grab this chance. We must rush the Royal Family's official announcement about this marriage."

-King Fugaku

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Unmei: Ah, finally done. I know things are rather slow right now, but I promise after the next two or three chapters, I will pick up the pace and only write the important things, and not all the unnecessary filler parts in the drama. Well, I would like to thank all my reviewers. It's rather sad that I got less than half, a third to be more exact, the amount of reviews for my second chapter than I did with my first. From 14 to a measly 4 reviews. That's rather discouraging, so I'm hoping that it isn't my writing skills that people think are bad, but that it's merely not many people are reading this fic because it's summer and being a SasuSaku romance fic, it often isn't one of the fics on the first pages because there are so many other fics that are written. Er, hopefully that made some sense. Well, just so you know, since I am taking vacation (to JAPAN, yes!) to visit relatives, I will be gone for nearly 3 weeks and most likely won't be able to update for another month or so. Sorry for making all of you wait. I'll see you in another month, ja ne!


	4. Entering the Palace

Unmei: Okay, I am soo, soo, very, very, extremely sorry I haven't updated this FOREVER! I hate to make excuses, but this time I really have to blame it on my 3-week long vacation to Japan, church retreat, and I just had to update my other fic because I hadn't updated that in an even longer amount of time. So, thankfully since I have nothing coming up (except dreaded school next Thursday), I hope to be much quicker on my updates. But, at the same time I'm trying to balance this story with another one I have so it might not be as quick as some of you guys like it to be—sorry!

Disclaimer: I would have to be one rich 14, almost 15, year old to be able to own BOTH Naruto and Goong.

Unmei: Okies, onto the story. Hope you all ENJOY! Oh, and if you haven't read the edit for chapter 2 you might want to, because I changed some things up that are quite vital to the story.

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Chapter 4: Entering the Palace

Princess Hours

Unmei no Hana

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace)

Yoshino-sama was shuffling through old photos with a small, almost reminiscent, smile upon her face.

"The King wouldn't have made such a promise if he had seen her today." Yoshino-sama looked up at the speaker, Queen Mikoto, for a moment before turning her head down to look at the pictures once again. "Although she may be a modern child, her manners and speech is fit for a princess. We are from a different class than she is. How could he have picked someone like her?" Still not looking up, Yoshino-sama heaved a great sigh.

"Shall I ask him why then?" She looked up at Queen Mikoto with piercing eyes. Guiltily, Queen Mikoto replied,

"That is not needed. I am sorry for what I said, Yoshino-sama." Yoshino-sama heaved another great sigh, obviously not believing Queen Mikoto, before handing to Queen Mikoto a large roll of paper. Queen Mikoto opened the roll of paper as Yoshino-sama explained to her.

"You see? This letter is proof that rank does not matter in this marriage." Queen Mikoto, despite the look of reluctant defeat on her face, said nothing. "This child's speech may not be good and her manners may be lacking. However, her eyes are clear and her personality is bright and pure. I believe she suits the prince very well and is an apt bride for him. The King thought carefully about this decision and about the future before he made this agreement. Therefore, we do not have the right to break it!" Yoshino-sama told Queen Mikoto severely. "Do not complain about his decision." This was no question, but instead a command. Queen Mikoto, still reluctant, bowed slightly before she turned to leave. Yoshino heaved one last sigh before she once again turned to pictures. One the top most one stood a man in traditional Hi no Kuni garments. Yoshino-sama carefully traced his outline with her finger.

"You always chose correctly in the past. I hope that this time, you chose correctly once more. For not only the sake of the Imperial Family, but for the sake of Sakura as well."

-----

(Konoha High School, Art Room)

Sakura and her friends sat in the corner of the art room after school. While Ino and Tenten fooled around as Hinata nervously watched them and Temari rolled her eyes, Sakura sat quietly, staring down at a flower in her hand that she had picked earlier that day. She began to pluck off its petals, one by one, as she muttered to herself,

"I will get married… I won't gonna get married… I will get married… I won't gonna get married…" And she continued this until just one more petal was left. Seemingly in slow motion, Sakura grasped the petal in between her two fingers and painfully plucked it off and whispered, "I will get… married." Suddenly a thought seemed to strike her and she looked up at her friends. "Hey guys…" Sakura began hesitantly, "have you ever thought about marriage?" The four of them looked at each other before Ino and Tenten burst out laughing.

"You're joking right Sakura?"

"We're still students, for crying out loud."

"I-It does seem rather early to be thinking about that Sakura…"

"You idiot! Marriage? You're kidding." Temari told her in a no-nonsense tone of voice. She adjusted the glasses that sat upon her nose before continuing. "The average lifespan of a Hi-no-Kuni citizen is just around 80 years. If you married at our age—19 years old—then do you know how long you're gonna spend living with that person? 61 years, Sakura. Don't you think that would be rather tiring?"

"H-hai, Temari-senpai is right. You would have many restraints upon you at such a young age."

"I know! Let's say you got married but then fell in love with someone else. What will you do?"

"I know! My suggestion is you don't marry until you find someone you truly love, ne? I mean if you married now, you won't be even able to go out on dates with your true love. That stinks, don't you think?"

While her friends were talking Sakura was slowly eating her rice and seaweed that she packed as a snack, digesting what all her friends had to say. Once Tenten had said her last statement, Sakura abruptly stood up, chopsticks still in hands and turned to face her friends.

"You're right! I never thought about it like that. How could I think about marriage when I still have my whole life ahead of me? Thanks guys for your help." She then shoved the rest of her snack into her mouth before grabbing her bag and exiting the room, leaving her friends behind with looks of utter confusion upon their faces.

"Do you know what's up with her?" Ino asked the rest of them, breaking the long silence. They all shrugged and went back to eating.

-----

(Haruno household)

Shouta, a goofy smile upon his face, thinking who knows what, fiddled with Sakura's golden promise ring. He looked at in closely and noticed tiny scribbles on the inside of the ring.

"Oi, otou-san, what's with these scribbles on the inside of this ring?" Keito stuck is head out of the kitchen to see what Shouta was talking about. When he saw the ring his face light up instantly and he came out of the kitchen and into the living room where Shouta was, wiping his hands on the yellow apron that he wore. He took the ring from Shouta's hands, scooping up the token that was on the table at the same time, and sat down in front of Shouta.

"Inside this ring is an encryption—." Keito proudly began until Shouta cut him off.

"I know that! But what do they say? What are they for?" Keito gave him a bewildered look.

"How would I know?" At this Shouta dropped his head in defeat, muttering about his useless father. Keito however seemed unfazed by this and continued. "Now, you can fit this into here—." Keito told Shouta as he fitted the ring into a groove on the token, "—and when you place the other half next to it…" Once again, Keito was unable to finish his sentence for Sakura hurriedly ran into the room, kicking off her shoes at the entrance.

"Dad, dad!" Hearing her voice, Keito frantically concealed both the ring and token into a jar, fearing what his daughter had to say. However he was not fast enough and was still in the process of hiding the items when she stormed to him.

"This marriage is invalid! Where's that engagement cup with the token and ring? Where are you hiding it?" Sakura demanded, too mad to see the cup that was right in front of her. She turned around and began opening various drawers and cabinets searching for the cup that held the token and ring inside. Keito finished putting the items away before hastily looking for a place to hide it. Just when Sakura was about to turn around he looked at Shouta—who had his back facing Sakura—and shoved it down his shirt.

"Where is it?" Sakura cried out hysterically. Shouta, curious as to why his father had shoved the cold, ceramic cup down his shirt pulled it out and handed it to her.

"This?" Sakura grabbed the container and pried off the lid, satisfied to see both the token and ring safely inside. She then turned around to leave the house. Keito groaned and smacked Shouta on the head as he tried to follow after Sakura, unsuccessfully.

"Hey, Sakura… Sakura!"

-----

(Downtown Konoha)

Sakura ran out of her neighborhood and into downtown Konoha, still clutching the cup in her hands. She had been running for quite awhile before she came to a bus stop and leaned against a wall, trying to catch her breath.

'When I get to the palace, I'm going to give that stuck-up prince a piece of my mind. Just wait until then Uchiha. You're dead!'

As Sakura not-so-patiently waited for the bus to take her to the palace, a man ran by, throwing ads into the air and shouting out. There were still many people out who caught the ads, read them, and then once again discarded them onto the sidewalk. At first, Sakura paid no attention to the man and what he shouted, too busy in her thoughts. However, when she started to pay attention to him, she heard him shout out,

"The Prince's engagement! The Prince is engaged! Royal Family marriage soon!" Once she heard this, Sakura stood up abruptly, thousands of thoughts running through her head. She quickly caught on of the ads that floated near her and frantically read it. A huge picture of Sasuke with his trademark smirk covered most of the front page with the head title 'Royal Marriage.' Underneath the large picture was a smaller one of a small girl with bubblegum pink hair and emerald eyes, holding the cup that Sakura was holding right at that moment and smiling. Sakura read the blurb next to picture and was horrified to see that it revealed all her personal info: name, age, address, telephone number, even her weight and bra size!

"Oh my god. Someone save me!" Sakura whispered, stunned. The ad slipped out of her grasp and, caught by a sudden gust of wind, was whisked away.

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace)

Sasuke and the current king, King Fugaku, sat in what seemed to be a study, a very elegant one. Fugaku's face was covered by the same ad Sakura had just read. He sighed and placed the ad onto his desk and looked across to his son, who, to put quite frankly, looked utterly bored.

"We have to grab this chance. We must rush the Royal Family's official announcement about this marriage." King Fugaku looked expectantly at Sasuke, as if waiting for him to retort something back. However when he did not, he looked at Kakashi, who bowed respectfully and left to go report the news. Fugaku then laid some documents in front of Sasuke and started to inform him of various events occurring. Sasuke gazed disdainfully at them for a moment before sighing and running a careless hand through is raven locks. King Fugaku gave him a perplexed look.

"What is it? Are you like this because of the engagement announcement? Or are you worried about how publicized it's going to be? As Crown Prince you should've expected this. Now, where were we?" Fugaku continued on his previous topic. Sasuke had no other choice but to grudgingly listen to his father as he subconsciously thought of his dilemmas—not only his duties as a member of the Royal family, but also those that involved relationships.

-----

(Haruno Residence)

"Princess, come out and eat! Your father and I grilled meat just for you!" Atsumi and Keito, with smiles upon their faces, huddled around a large pot, upon which they grilled succulent pieces of meat—a rare delicacy for families of such low income as their own.

"Oi, billboard brow, come out! If you don't, this little prince will eat your serving as well." Shouta shouted into Sakura's room. When Sakura didn't come out for a long period of time, Atsumi sighed in frustration and moved the pot from off the heat and, along with Shouta and Keito, entered Sakura's room, only to find her upon her bed, the ad in front of her, crying. Keito, sympathetically grabbed Sakura's hands in his own and told her soothingly,

"I know. I know how you feel." Sakura looked at him reproachfully as she wailed,

"What do you know? What do any of you know?"

"I know, I'm telling you. Your mother cried too when we announced our engagement." Keito said. Sakura, after hearing this, yanked her hand away from him, and began crying even harder.

"What do I do? What do I do now?" She mumbled. She leaned over and began crying on Atsumi's shoulder, who patted her gently on the back.

"There, there. Really, it isn't all that bad Sakura. Just think about it!" Sakura obviously did not agree with her mother, for her crying did not cease. Finally, she bawled,

"Why does it has to be this picture?" At this, the three other members of the family looked at each other, partly in surprise, partly in disbelief. Sakura, taking no notice of this, continued her lamentation. "Why this picture? My grade school graduation picture! I was in a period of my life when I was fat and ugly. My image is ruined! I'll never be able to walk outside again." Suddenly, her mood changed and she looked at her family with accusing eyes. "Who gave it to them? Who gave them this revolting picture!" Keito, Atsumi, and Shouta slowly turned around, trying to hide their guilty faces. Sakura, knowing her answer, got up, fully ready to punish them. However, right at that moment, the three of them got up as well and began to frantically run out of her room. Sakura, screaming threats, ran right after them.

-----

Loud screams, slightly muffled by the thick walls of the house, entered the room of a certain sleeping princess-to-be, a.k.a. Sakura Haruno, awakening her from her pleasant slumber. Sakura fluttered her eyes open before closing them tightly shut and burying her head underneath layers of blankets and pillows in an attempt to block the noise out and therefore, get more rest. Perhaps if the world was a perfect, ideal world, she would have been able to rest in peace once again, but unfortunately, her world was nowhere close to that. Right at that moment, Shouta decided to burst into her room and ran over to her bundled figure. He then proceeded to shake her violently while shouting out.

"Oi, forehead girl! Big trouble outside. Your enemies have come to take you down!" Sakura mumbled incoherently from underneath her pillows.

"Shouta, go away! I'm tired."

"But there's such a big fuss outside, sis. I don't know if mom and dad can take them out!" Grumbling, Sakura got up and with a huge yawn, walked outside the front door to see what this "big fuss" was really all about. This was apparently not the reaction Shouta expected for he trailed after her.

"Sis, you can't go out there! Not in that condition. You're enemies are far too strong." Sakura did not care it seemed for she stumbled outside, ignoring him completely. Squinting her eyes slightly at the bright daylight, Sakura looked around for the so-called "big fuss" and found it immediately. Atsumi and Keito were attempting to shut tens of hundreds of reporters out, and were failing miserably. Suddenly, one reporter seemed to notice Sakura and screamed out.

"There she is! The princess-to-be!" At this Keito and Atsumi turned around horrified.

"Sakura, what are you doing standing there? Go back inside!"

"Go, before they take any pictures. Hurry up!" Sakura however was too shocked to move. She stood rooted to that spot as the reporters took picture after picture. Finally she seemed to come to her senses and with a look of utter horror ran back into the house and straight to her room. She stared at her image in the mirror and was horror-struck at what she saw. A very messy ponytail with strands falling out, droopy, crusty eyes, a slight stream of drool, and to top it off, horribly embarrassing pajamas that had cheesy animals all over it. So, Sakura did the first thing that came to her mind when she saw this image—scream.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

-----

(Konoha High School)

'Damn it. If I knew I had to go through such an ordeal just to get to school, I wouldn't have agreed to that stupid agreement.' Sakura thought to herself as she chained her bicycle up in front of the school. 'Those stupid reporters…Argh, just thinking about them makes me mad.'

Flashback

Sakura, after cleaning up her appearance, prepared to go to school. However, there was just one problem. A very huge one. She had no way to get out of her house. Although Atsumi and Keito were able to finally close the gate on the many reporters, locking them outside, they subsequently locked themselves in as well. As time passed, and the time for her class to start approached, Sakura got more and more frantic. Finally, after many minutes of thinking, she came up with a brilliant plan… or at least she thought so. Shouta vehemently disagreed, but was forced to grudgingly accept it. And so, Sakura and her parents crouched behind the gate, Sakura's bicycle behind them, and heaved the gate doors open. The reporters began to surge into the house until a hooded figure ran past them and onto the streets.

"It's the Crown Princess, follow her!" The reporters, as well as other spectators, began to run after the figure soon after someone had shouted that. When the crowd had cleared, Sakura jumped onto her bike and began to pedal as fast as she could, away from the mob. It wasn't until she was a good five minutes away from home that her pace slowed down to a more leisurely one.

End Flashback

When she was finished chaining her bicycle up, Sakura hesitantly made her way into the school, unsure as to what reaction her friends would have. Fortunately, or perhaps, unfortunately, for her, Tenten and Ino, as well as Temari, were standing by their lockers. Ino and Tenten where inspecting their faces, while Temari was impatiently waiting for them to finish. Taking this opportunity, Sakura stealthily snuck up behind the three of them, and poked each one lightly. They spun around, ready to punish the person, until they saw Sakura's smiling face. Soon their angered faces were replaced by ones of disgust. Temari began to walk away causing Sakura to reach out and grab onto her arm.

"Hey Temari, where are you going." Temari said nothing in reply and instead yanked her arm away from Sakura and stalked off. Sakura, although she was confused, brushed it off, thinking Temari was just having a bad day, and linked arms with Tenten and Ino.

"Let's go you guys." She began to walk towards the classroom, but stopped when she realized Tenten and Ino weren't walking as well.

"You guys…" Sakura began before Ino cut her off.

"Sakura, is it true?" Sakura knew immediately what she meant and guiltily lowered her head.

"I knew it! It's true. I'm ruined!" Ino whined. She quickly unlinked her arms from Sakura's and stared at her, looking as if she was going to cry. "The Prince is mine. He's mine!"

"How dare you deceive us Sakura! You're such an evil girl." Tenten sobbed as well.

"What are you talking about? I'm frustrated as well!" Sakura tried to reason with her friends. They however paid no attention to her and continued wailing. "You guys… don't do this to me. Please stop it!" Sakura tried to soothe her friends but to no avail. Finally, she gave up and glumly walked away to class as the bell rang.

-----

Lunchtime came and Sakura walked around the cafeteria looking for a place to sit down. She spotted Ino, Hinata, Temari, and Tenten eating at one table and began to approach there before stopping and dejectedly walking to sit at a nearby table. She began to eat her food until a group of giggling girls approached her.

"Sakura-nee-san, can I have a picture with you?"

"Can I have your autograph?"

"Me too!"

At the nearby table, Tenten, Ino, Hinata, and Temari watched all this commotion.

"Look at that. She's suddenly being treated like some Cinderella," Tenten said somewhat longingly.

"Who cares? Sakura and Sasuke don't even look good together. I'll never accept it!" Ino burst out.

"Hey, Temari, why are you so quiet?" Tenten suddenly inquired. Temari remained quiet and continued to eat. Ino leaned close to Tenten and whispered to her,

"Don't you remember? She's been like this from the start. She hates Cinderella girls. She wants to cut their throats." Ino said, complete with motions.

"Hey guys!" The four girls turned to see Sakura sitting down next to Hinata. They all turned away. Sakura however was not discouraged and told her friends, "I'm sorry. I love you guys!" When they still continued to ignore her, Sakura saddened. "You guys… I really wanted to tell you, honestly! There was just no good time to! Please believe me."

"Whatever."

"Let's go." Ino and Tenten began to get up to leave.

"Fine, leave! But before you guys do, let me tell you this. I'm not some kind of Cinderella!" Sakura said, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Defiantly, she lowered her face and began stuffing it with her lunch.

------

(Konoha Airport)

Fuyuno Mika, walking to her terminal, stopped briefly to watch the news that was playing on the television. On it, showed pictures of the Prince and Sakura. Quickly, Mika turned away from it and hurriedly continued to walk. However, she did not notice the man in front of her and ran into him, thus causing her bag to fall and its contents to spill all over the floor. Mumbling a quick apology she bent over to put up her belongings. The man she bumped into also bent down to help her.

"Are you alright? You look troubled." Mika looked at him perplexed.

"I'm alri… actually I'm not alright." The man decided not to press any further and picked up Mika's cell phone. It had opened when it fell and on the screen displayed a picture of Mika and Sasuke together. The man stared at the picture, stunned.

'Who is this girl and how does she know Sasuke? Is she the girl Sasuke is engaged to? But her picture doesn't match the one from the TV…'

Mika, when she noticed that the man was staring at her cell phone, grabbed it from his hands and stuffed it into her bag. With a frightened look upon her face, she bowed slightly to him for his help and rushed away. The man stood there for a couple seconds more, thoughts racing through his brain. In the background, the television displayed more pictures of Sasuke and Sakura while the announcer spoke.

"It is said that this engagement has been planned for a long time. What's even more interesting is that by some odd turn of events, the Crown Prince and his fiancée both attend the same school. The Palace has not released any more information on the girl the Crown Prince is engaged to and her family refuses to speak with the media. For the time being, the citizens of Hi no Kuni are all wondering what kind of person this Haruno Sakura is."

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace)

The man who had previously helped Fuyuno Mika out at the airport walked around the Hi no Kuni Palace. He had come to a rather deserted looking section of the Palace where an old, run down building stood. He entered it and looked at the various pictures that stood on a table at the entrance. He picked up a particular one of a man in traditional Hi no Kuni clothing. Smiling slightly, he told it,

"Father… Sai is back."

The man, named Sai, placed the picture back in its proper place and exited from the building. He leisurely walked around, viewing the scenery.

'Not much has changed since 14 years ago. The Palace still seems the same…' Sai was shaken from his thoughts when a voice behind him spoke.

"…Sai?" Sai turned around and saw Kakashi with a look of mild surprise upon his face. Kakashi rushed to face him and with a smile bowed.

"Sai, it's good to have you back." Sai smiled as well at seeing Kakashi.

"It's good to see you too Kakashi. I'm surprised you still recognize me. Have I really not changed that much since I left for Kiri no Kuni?"

"It's not that, you have changed a lot. But, how could I forget you? After all, I was the one who you forced to give you piggyback rides before you left for Kiri no Kuni."

"Ah, now I remember that. You haven't changed much Kakashi. Do you still read those perverted books of yours?" Kakashi ignored that question, a slight blush upon his face, and instead replied,

"Yoshino-sama and the King have missed you very much. The King is out right now, but Yoshino-sama will be delighted to see you. Let's go in."

-----

Yoshino-sama and Sai sat together on a bench, Yoshino-sama clutching Sai's hands and saying,

"It's been so long since you've left. Look at you! You're already a grown man now. For these past years while you were away, I have never ceased to think of you and your mother. Come to think of it, where is your mother? Why did you come alone?"

"Mother said she has some business to take care of before she is able to return. But, she said she'll return eventually."

"Then, are you thinking of staying here forever?"

"Yes, Yoshino-sama, my mother and I are planning to return to Hi no Kuni for good."

"I'm so glad." Queen Mikoto, who had been sitting in another chair with a displeased look upon her face, finally spoke up.

"Then where shall you be staying?" Both Yoshino-sama and Sai looked at her. There was a brief pause in the conversation before Sai said,

"I'll be living in a rented apartment. Mother will live there with me as well when she arrives."

"Oh, but you should stay in the Kumohara pavilion. Isn't that where your father's memorial is?" Yoshino-sama said, a concern present upon her face.

"Yes, that is true. However, the Kumohara pavilion is quite run down and is need of repairs."

"Yes… I forgot about that. Then, how about you more into the Palace? It's not right for you to have to live in a rented apartment." At this statement, Queen Mikoto interjected.

"Excuse me Yoshino-sama, but the law states that the old King's son is to be living outside of the Palace."

"That's right. I wasn't thinking properly because I was so excited." Yoshino-sama said in a crestfallen tone. Sai remained quite throughout this and did not speak up until Yoshino-sama had finished talking.

"With all due respect, Yoshino-sama, Mikoto-jyou-sama, but I must be leaving soon." And with that he bowed and exited.

-----

(Konoha High School)

Sakura was walking to her next class when somebody suddenly appeared in front of her. She looked up, startled, only to be greeted by Sasuke's smirking face.

"Oh, I must've taken the wrong route." Sakura said as she turned around and began walking away.

"We need to speak. I'm surprised you can still face a camera with your mentality."

"What? Mentality?"

"I'm assuming you've been preparing recently."

"Preparing…? For what?"

"To enter the Palace. Someone should be stopping by your house sometime soon."

"Entering… the Palace?" Sasuke gave Sakura an exasperated look.

"You didn't know about this? It's for the Crown Princess's education. I doubt you can cope with it." Sakura gave him an irritated look at this comment. "What's with that look? You're the one who agreed to this marriage while asking for money at the same time."

"What?" Sakura asked dumbly.

"Anyways, this doesn't concern me. Just be fully prepared and be sure not to get me into a bad situation because this isn't some kind of joke." After he said this, Sasuke began to walk away.

"Hey, Rooster hair!" When he heard this name, Sasuke whipped around, an angry glint in his eyes.

"Rooster hair?"

"Yes, Rooster hair. Let me ask you something. Why did you agree to this marriage? I know perfectly well that you could've rejected it and proposed to any girl you wanted to. Why didn't you take that chance and propose to the girl you wanted to? I know you have a girl you'd much rather marry."

"You seem to know nothing. Do you really expect me to allow the girl I like to be trapped inside of the Palace as the princess?"

"Then…then what about me?" Sasuke let out an exasperated sigh and ran his hand through his raven locks.

"I thought I told you before. You and I have nothing in relation. I could care less what happens to you. That's why I'm marrying you."

"What did you say?" Sakura asked with a look of disbelief upon her face.

"Shouldn't you be grateful that I'm marrying you without any complaints?" Sakura let out a harsh laugh before saying,

"Did you really say what I thought you said? Are you saying that instead of your girlfriend, you'd much rather me be trapped and stuck in the Palace?" Once again, Sasuke ignored her question and instead said,

"Nonetheless, you should never forget, the fact is that you're going to become a princess. If you want to be my bride, then you'll have to upgrade your level or else you'll be in serious trouble. Do you know? Do you know that your level of being a princess is low?"

"Level?"

"I just don't want your stupidity to interfere with me. Got it?" Sasuke said this and walked away, leaving a fuming Sakura in his wake. She began to make faces at him and pretended to punch him. Abruptly, Sasuke stopped in his tracks and turned around, ignoring the faces Sakura was giving him.

"And one more thing. Take off those dirty sweatpants of yours. If you're unable of doing so by yourself, I'll call someone who'll do it for you and teach you some manners as well." Sakura had taken enough and screamed at him,

"Go learn some yourself, jerk!" She attempted to kick him, but was too far away. With nothing to stop its momentum, Sakura's leg flew higher than it should have and caused Sakura to fall flat on her back. Whimpering slightly, Sakura opened her shuteyes and saw a smirking Sasuke above her. With a mocking tone, he told her,

"You never seem to alter my expectations of you."

-----

Her back aching with a tremendous amount of pain, Sakura stiffly walked to her next class. Remembering what Sasuke had said, she pulled out the knee-high socks required by the school from out of her pockets and began to slip her gym pants off. However, luck was not on her side, for as she began to do so, a teacher happened to pass by.

"What's this? What are you doing?" Sakura, in a state of panic, started to rush away, with the teacher in close pursuit.

-----

Sai entered his new high school and went to what seemed to be the front desk. However, nobody was there. This greatly confused him and he looked around for someone to help him, but found no one. Suddenly, he heard a loud clatter and saw a girl running past him.

"Wait a moment. Can you tell me where to find the arts office?" The girl, who had a curious shade of bubblegum pink hair, stopped running. She looked around frantically first before beginning to slip off the odd gym pants that were under her skirt and saying,

"Arts? It's next to this building on the second floor."

"Thank you." Sai told the girl. However, he did not walk away. Instead, he stared curiously at what the girl was doing. She had finally succeeded in slipping her gym pants off and were about to put on socks when what seemed to be a teacher appeared. Cursing, the girl grabbed her socks, slipped on her shoes, and ran away. Sai was left there dumbfounded. He looked at the floor and saw the girl's gym pants. Picking them up, he smirked slightly to himself.

"What a day this already has been."

-----

Sakura had finally succeeded in running away from the teacher and was able to pull her socks on. After catching her breath for a moment, she began to walk back to her classroom, only to be stopped by a pair of very familiar Palace officials.

"We need to prepare for the marriage faster. Because of that, you must come with us right now."

"But, it's still school. Can't this wait till afterwards."

"I'm afraid we cannot. The Queen ordered so."

"I can't go yet. I left my backpack in the room." The two palace officials however were one step ahead of Sakura and from behind their backs pulled out both her backpack and shoes. With a chagrined face Sakura reluctantly followed them out of the school grounds.

-----

The bell indicating the start of class rang and the students in a particular classroom began scurrying to their seats before the teacher walked in. A couple of seconds later, the teacher, who's name was Mizuhara-sensei, walked in with a stranger walking behind her—a very find looking stranger. The girl squealed at the sight of him and hearts appeared in their eyes. Mizuhara-sensei slammed her books on her desk and shouted,

"Everyone, quiet down now. Today, a new alien joins us." The stranger had a confused look upon his face.

'Alien?' He looked around the classroom and quickly found a colorful poster saying: "Planet Room." He smiled slightly at this and turned his attention back to the teacher.

"His name is Yamamoto Sai." The teacher noticed that all the girls where paying no attention to what she was saying, but instead to Sai. "He's a very fine looking alien isn't he?"

"Yes!" All the girls shouted in agreement.

"Anyways, Sai has lived in Kiri no Kuni since he was 5 years old. Because of this, he will need all your help. Please be sure to help whenever he has trouble and don't isolate him. Understand?" Mizuhara-sensei then motioned for Sai to take a seat in one of the two empty desks and began to teach.

-----

(Haruno Household)

Outside of Sakura's house a mob of girls with posters were gathered. They were all chanting the same phrase.

"BRING BACK THE PRINCE! BRING HIM BACK!"

Sakura stared out the window and saw the crowd of people in front of her house. Little did she know what they were chanting and happily waved to them all.

'Look, I'm so famous!' However, as soon as she did, the mob of girls began to chant once again.

"HARUNO SAKURA, YOU MUST KILL YOURSELF! KILL YOUSELF, KILL YOURSELF!" At this, Sakura dropped her hand and horrified look appeared on her face. A young woman appeared behind Sakura and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Miss, we must get your measurements. Please can you stand over here?" Sakura did as she was told. She allowed the girls to measure her as she gazed out the window and at the mob of girls still shouting at her.

'What did I get myself into?'

-----

"How is it? Is it too tight?"

"No it's just fine."

"You remind me of my grandmother…."

"Really?"

It was early the next day when Sakura stood outside, dressed in traditional Hi no Kuni clothing. Her hair was fashioned into a bun and intricate ornaments decorated with gems and gold where in her hair as well. A happy expression was upon her face as she struggled to fine her hands within the folds of fabric that made up the sleeves of her garment.

"Yes, you do. Very pretty." Keito told her. Atsumi worriedly grabbed hold of Sakura's arm and said,

"Eat well and don't get stomach aches, okay?" Sakura nodded her heads.

"Oh, that's right. I packed extra medicine for you." Keito said, holding up Sakura's pink bag. The happy expression melted from Sakura's face and was replaced by a glum one. She looked at Shouta and told him,

"Listen to mom and dad, okay?"

"Don't worry forehead girl. Next time you come and visit, I'll show you my muscles, okay? You'll be so surprised at how much they'll grow!" Sakura giggled at this slightly. Her family joined in for a brief period of time only to be stopped by a palace official.

"We had better hurry up." Once he said this, the laughter subsided and Sakura's face became gloomy again. She began to walk forward then turned around.

"I made this choice. I'll take responsibility for my life. Please don't beat yourselves up over it." Keito and Atsumi nodded slightly. Sakura turned around again. Two maids opened the large gates and Sakura was instantly blinded by the flashes of thousands of cameras. Sakura slowly advanced towards the car that was parked in front of her house. Ignoring the thousands of people who were screaming at her and the cameras taking pictures, Sakura, with the same sad expression on her face, began to get into the car. As she was about to so, she turned around one last time to look at her family. They were all smiling brightly at her. Smiling back, Sakura stepped into the car. Guards began to push the crowd from out of the middle of road the car began to slowly make its way down the road. The road all the way to the Palace was lined with spectators holding up colorful signs. On every rooftop and balcony stood even more spectators and news reporters. Sakura however never once throughout the journey looked out the window to view all the people who had come to catch a glimpse of her. Instead she sat quietly in the back of the car looking at her folded hands.

'Mom… Dad… Shouta… I'll miss you. I just hope I've made the right decision.'

-----

Sakura has finally entered the palace. What troubles and difficulties are in store for her? Who is this Sai and why were he and his mother living in Kiri no Kuni for 14 years? How does he know Yoshino-sama and the rest of the imperial family? And what will Sasuke do about his relationship with Fuyuno Mika? Stay tuned to Princess Hours to find out!

Next time, Chapter 5: Royal Marriage

"We're friends of the Crown Princess. Of course she'll wave to us, just you watch!"  
-Tenten

-----

Unmei: I am FINALLY done! My gosh, this chapter took me forever! I'm so sorry it took me so long, but hopefully it being longer than all my chapters will make up for that. School has finally started for me, and I have so much homework compared to last year, that I'll only be able to write on the weekends. Because of that, it will take me half a month, to a month to finish a chapter. I'm so sorry it's going to take me so long, but I'm just swamped with homework, viola, and writing my other fic. I hope this doesn't discourage any of you guys from reading my fic. I'll really try to update as fast I can—and don't worry, I'm going to finish this fic. Even if I'm old and senile. Even if it takes me a thousand years. I promise you all that I will finish this fic! And, thank you to all my reviewers** (Epiff Annie, saki, Gaara's desert blossom, KessaBrenton, Anime Fr3ak, kunoichi haruhana, sasusaku4eva101, Yucina101, and Sakura4eva).** You guys have no idea how much your reviews really encourage me to continue writing. If it weren't for you guys, I would've quit this fic after just the first couple of chapters. So thank you, I love you all! So, for all of you guys reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please keep on reading, REVIEWING, and of course enjoying this fic. Till next time, ja!


	5. Royal Wedding

Unmei: Well, my last chapter… sucked as shown by my very, very, veryyyy low number of reviews. I feel really bad now… Meh, I said I would finish this story, but as I write more and more of it, I get more and more discouraged. You know I wonder if anyone actually reads these silly author notes or if I'm just writing these for no reason. Anyways, I'll really try to improve the story and get more into it… but it's been hard. Anyways, disclaimer time (so I don't get sued):

Disclaimer: Americans sue each other too much.

-----

Princess Hours

Chapter 5: Royal Wedding

Unmei no Hana

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace, Sakura's room)

Well, it's been a couple of days since I've moved into the palace… and I have to say, it's not what I expected. Everyday I'm expected to wake up 7 (geez, so much for beauty sleep), meet up with Mr. I-think-I'm-all-that-because-I'm-prince a.k.a. Sasuke and go "greet" the elders. There, all I do is stand around, smile, and look pretty while Sasuke tastes the food or something like that. I don't see why he has to do it. Apparently he's testing for poison after an attempt of King Fugaku's life ten years ago, psh. But, honestly, who would want to eat food that that arrogant bastard tasted? I mean, that food now contains Sasuke germs—ew!

Oh, have I told you about my room? Well it's **_awesome_** …other than the fact that it's right across from Sasuke's and the doors aren't solid wood but instead have glass in them and from my bed I can see through them and into Sasuke's room and well vice versa too I guess (wow, that was a ton of 'ands'… my English teacher will not be pleased). Anyways, back to the topic of my room. It's huge, probably twice as large as my old room and has this humongous walk in closet (my clothes don't even fill half of it up!) and a gorgeous bathroom connecting to it. The walls are a beautiful plum color and my bed—it's king sized!—along with its thousands of pillows and sheets is in a delicate pink color. And I have these mahogany colored furniture and finally enough bookshelves to store all my large research books. But, best of all I have this huge, plush couch right in front of a large, plasma, flat screen TV! I cannot wait until I tell Tenten, Ino, Hinata, and Temari about this… once they stop being mad at me.

That brings me to another topic, one that's not so happy. Well, everyday like normal, after I go to greet the elders, I have to rush to school. But not on my old bicycle, no that's retired. Instead I get to ride in one of those fancy cars and I even have these bodyguards—they're so cute! But it gets rather troublesome (dear lord, I'm sounding like that bastard's friend Shikamaru. The one Ino has a real crush one, not a silly one like the one she has on Sasuke) and I miss my old bike and the sensation of feeling the cold air rushing past me. Ah, such fond memories. But, anyways, school's been a drag. Not because I'm not doing well but because no one talks to me… not even Hinata! It's sad… and rather lonely. I would give up being the crown princess just to have my friends back. Oh, wait! There is one person to talks to me! There's this new kid, Sai uh… what was his last name again? Yamamoto I think it was. Anyways, he just moved here from England. He's pretty hot I have to say and very sweet (unlike a certain someone I know….)

Overall, I have to say, I wish I never became the crown princess. Sure it's fun to have such yummyful food everyday, a huge bed and awesome room, but I miss my family and my friends and most of all, my old way of living. Now, everywhere I go cameras follow me. I have no privacy at all! And I get death threats and glares from girls proclaiming that I have stolen _their _prince. Tch! Who would want to be with that jerk? I'll gladly give him to them. Let them mob him and trample him. Maybe that'll teach him a lesson. Grr, I must get off the subject of him. Just thinking about that arrogant, stuck up, good for nothing, total loser makes me mad. Wait, what was I talking about again before I went on my tangent? Oh yea, being crown princess. Yea, it was pretty fun at first (I was glad to hear that my family finally isn't being chased by those nasty loan sharks) but its sad and lonely. I miss everyone…. Being royal and famous isn't as awesome as it seems to be. Ah, I here Yuri-nee-chan (one of my super cute bodyguards!) approaching. I'll write more later since we're finally on winter vacation, yes! Okay, I really gotta go now, k? Ja!

-Sakura, CROWN PRINCESS OF HI NO KUNI!

-----

Sakura hastily closed her leather bound journal and stuffed it, along with a fluffy pink pen decorated with hearts, into a drawer in her desk. She smoothed her outfit, a traditional Hi no Kuni garment consisting of wine colored silk and golden embroideries. Approaching her was a tall girl, most likely no older than Sakura herself, wearing a very uptight looking suit that contrasted greatly with her round, sweet face which tried to hide a large grin for, according to Kakashi, the Palace's public affairs manager, palace staff were never supposed to show emotions. The girl bowed in respect to Sakura before telling her,

"Sakura-ojyou-sama, (1.), Mikoto-jyou-sama would like to see you about your studies."

"Again? What does she need to know this time Yuri-nee-chan (2.)? That I can't speak that god-forsaken language they use here?" Sakura grumbled while rolling her eyes. Yuri covered her mouth with a delicate hand in order to suppress a giggle that threatened to escape.

"I am not sure Sakura-sama. I think it has to do with that… and some other subjects."

"Very well. I guess I have no choice. Lead me to her royal pain." Sakura stood up and shook out her skirts. Fixing her hair quickly in a mirror she followed Yuri out of her room. They made their way through many hallways for the area in which Sakura and Sasuke's rooms where, was isolated from the rest of the palace, although Sakura didn't know why. At last they reached Queen Mikoto's living area. Yuri knocked softly on the door and peeked her head inside of the room.

"Queen Mikoto, Sakura-ojyou-sama has arrived." From inside the room Sakura heard the dry, strict voice of the queen reply,

"Very well, send her in." Yuri opened the door wider and ushered Sakura in. She mouthed the words 'ganbatte' before closing the doors behind Sakura. Cautiously, Sakura stepped inside of the room and was surprised to see that beside Queen Mikoto sat a suspiciously young looking woman who had a very, very large bust and honey-gold eyes and hair.

'Gosh. The queen totally looks like a shriveled up, uptight prune compared to this… lady.' Sakura thought amused. She then, somewhat clumsily, sat down on a couch opposite of the one in which the Queen and the mysterious lady was sitting. When she had settled herself, the Queen began to talk.

"Sakura-ojyou-sama, I have called you here today in order to talk about your lack of knowledge of the ancient language." Queen Mikoto ignored Sakura's nearly inaudible groan and slight roll of her eyes. "I have personally talked with the teacher here and she has agreed to tutor you." At this she motioned to the woman beside her. "This is Tsunade-san. She will be teaching you about the ancient language as well as proper palace etiquette that you seem to…lack. I have made sure that she will tutor you well. I have high expectations for you—" She once again ignored the rude noise Sakura made, "—for I hear you are a bright student, the best in your department in fact." After she finished talking, the woman next to her began.

"It is nice to meet you Haruno Sakura, I am Tsunade. I shall be teaching you over the ancient language and proper etiquette. I'm quite looking forward to tutoring you. Now I must say, I will not be easy on you just because you are pretty." Sakura blushed a bit at this comment and bowed slightly.

"You are dismissed now. You're lessons will start tomorrow. When school starts up in a couple of weeks you will continue your lessons on the weekends. " Queen Mikoto told her. And with those words, Sakura was dismissed. She bowed once more in respect and exited the room.

-----

'Man, you have to be kidding me. Why do I have to speak that stupid language? I mean, the only times they use it is during silly ceremonies really. This sucks, sucks, sucks!' Sakura pouted as she headed back to her room. She turned the corner and ran straight into a firm, yet warm and slightly squishy object.

"Oof."

"Well spoken." The blood drained out of her face and she looked up and was greeted by Sasuke's ever smirking, or at least in her opinion, face. Attempting to save herself from almost certain embarrassment she tried to walk past him, only to be blocked each time she attempted to sidestep him. Getting more and more annoyed, she finally cracked.

"What the hell do you want you bastard?" Sakura seethed at him.

"That certainly isn't the language the Crown Princess should be using, now is it. Anyways, I see I was right to presume that you would bring more…excitement to the palace."

"I don't care whether I bring more excitement to your conceited life or not. I also don't care how I should be talking. Just get out of my way!"

"As you wish." Sasuke told her mockingly as he brushed passed her, heading towards Queen Mikoto's room.

'What did I do in my past life to deserve a punishment like this?' Sakura thought to herself. Huffing and puffing as if she was the big bad wolf, Sakura stormed her way to her room and slammed the door closed with a loud "thud!" Throwing herself onto her mass of brightly colored blankets and pillows Sakura picked up a certain plushie that was in the shape of a person. A very familiar person. In fact, it looked very eerily like the Crown Prince Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura then opened a drawer and pulled out a few needles she used to sew with—one of her favorite pastimes—and started poking them into various places on the plushie's body. Once she was satisfied with the current state of the plushie she set it on her desk and turned on the TV that resided in her room.

'Hmm… it's Monday night…what's on? Ohh, I think Delightful Girl Choon-hyang is on!' Flipping to the correct channel, Sakura began to watch the drama. However, about halfway through she heard a very familiar voice behind her say,

"You watch these crappy dramas?" (A/N Promise this will probably be my only author note interrupting a chapter, but since most people don't read the one at the bottom, just know that I LOVE dramas and didn't put that because I hate them 'cause I don't.)

'God, why have I been condemned to hell?'

"Go away." Sakura said shortly. However, Sasuke ignored her and decided to wander around her room instead.

"I told you to go away." Sakura reiterated.

"I didn't know you believed in black magic."

"What?"

"I said, I didn't know you believed in black magic."

"I heard you the first time. I meant what are you talking about?" Sasuke didn't reply but instead up the plushie of him with all the needles sticking out of it. Sakura blushed when she saw it.

"Trying to do some voodoo of sorts? No wonder my stomach hurts. Anyway, what color do you want your sash to be?"

"…My sash?"

"Yea, for the wedding."

"Mm…how about. Wait a second. WEDDING?" Sasuke looked at the flustered Sakura with raised eyebrows.

"Yea, wedding. You know, when two people get married."

"I know what a wedding is. But what do you mean wedding? We're still in high school!"

"That may be so, but since I am the Crown Prince, it is necessary that I marry early and have a kid to ensure the line of the throne just in case something happens to King Fugaku or me." Sakura blushed when Sasuke mentioned the inevitable fact that they would have to produce an heir.

"But we're in high school! They can't possibly make us get married this early. I thought it would be a couple years or until we finished high school before we had to you know… get married."

"The elders don't care about that. All they care about is about custom, and custom says that the Crown Prince gets married before he turns 20."

"Well, that's a stupid custom and they should change it."

"Too bad for you. I doubt they'll change it anytime soon. Anyways, answer the question. What color do you want your sash to be? That's the only thing Queen Mikoto will let you choose." Sakura rubbed her forehead slightly feeling a headache starting to form.

"What color is my dress going to be?"

"It's not a dress you know. It's the same thing as you're wearing, just more elaborate. Anyways, it's going to be white. I have no idea why."

"Okay, that makes it easier. Jade green then. Is that all you needed to ask? Because if it is, please leave. I'm getting a headache."

"As you wish…Crown Princess." Sasuke once again told Sakura. He, smirking at the fumes being emitted by Sakura, exited her room. Flopping onto her bed and poking some more needles into the plushie Sasuke, Sakura felt her eyelids growing heavy. A huge yawn escaped from her mouth as she sank farther into the comfort and warmth of her pillows. Her eyes fluttered closed and she was soon succumbed to sleep.

-----

BAM!

"Sakura! Are you paying attention?" The loud rap by the stick and reprimand by Tsunade woke Sakura from her slumber.

"Wha?"

"Sakura-san, this is the fourth you've fallen asleep so far during my lecture." Tsunade told the drowsy girl disapprovingly. At this, Sakura bowed her head guiltily.

"I'm sorry Tsunade-sama. I'll try to stay awake." Rubbing her temples slightly, Tsunade sighed.

"You told me that the other times. What's the matter? Did you not get enough sleep last night? Is my lecture really that boring?"

"Well, I did have some difficulties sleeping last night…"

"Over what? Bad digestion?" Sakura shook her head. "That time of month?" Sakura shook her head once again, blushing slightly. "Hunger?" Another shake. "Marriage?" This time Sakura didn't shake her head, but instead colored to a shade that put her own hair to shame. Knowing she hit the spot, Tsunade patted the girl on the back sympathetically.

"Ah, don't worry about that. Most girls get married at one point of their life or another, you just happen to be getting married sooner than most. But at least it's into the best family in all of Hi no Kuni and plus you get to filthy rich, eat delicious food whenever you want, and enjoy the luxuries every girl dreams about." Tsunade rambled on, stars in her eyes. "Plus, the Prince is a total hottie, smart, athletic, and everything a girl could ever dream about." Sakura sweat dropped a little at hearing a forty-some old woman (or she was informed by Yuri-nee-chan) rave over a mere teenager as if she had a crush on him.

'Yea, he's perfect… Except for that horrible personality of his. Just fix that, add a sense of humor and viola, the perfect guy. Wait, what in the world am I saying? That idiot is nowhere close to perfect! Gosh, deprivation of sleep is really getting to me isn't it?'

"Anyways Sakura-san, back to your lesson. The Queen wouldn't be happy if you didn't improve any. Even though it doesn't seem like it, she really does high expectations for you and I would hate to disappoint her." Tsunade told her a semi-serious tone.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." Sakura sighed and repositioned herself. She then smoothed the paper she had been sleeping on and began taking notes with a newfound determination.

-----

"Still being as unproductive as ever I see Sasuke." Sasuke, camera clutched in his hands, whirled around.

"Who…?" He began to ask when he saw the raven-haired, dark-eyed youth standing in front of him with a smirk. In disbelief, he uttered,

"…Sai?" The man's smirk grew even larger and he approached Sasuke and gave him a hug.

"Glad you still remember me Sasuke. I thought you would've forgotten."

"Tch, never underestimate the mental capacity of an Uchiha." Sasuke told him in a mock serious voice. Playfully swatting Sasuke on the head, Sai plopped down on the Crown Prince's large king sized bed and looked around.

"Still looks the same as usual. Jeez Sasuke, you're sense of style really hasn't changed since you were five, has it?"

"I like it this way. Anyways, it's too much of a hassle to have people come in and redecorate it." Sasuke told Sai defensively. "Anyways, when did you get back? Are you going to school? Why didn't you tell me? Where's your mom? Are you staying here for good this time?"

"Whoa, whoa. One question at a time. I got back a week ago and am currently going to Konoha High School, majoring in chemistry. I didn't tell you because I wanted to settle in some as a normal person. Mom's coming in another couple of weeks I think. She said she had to tie up some loose ends back in Kiri no Kuni, and yes we'll be staying here permanently from now on. Anymore questions?" With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Sasuke asked slyly,

"Are you still a virgin?" Sai blushed slightly at this comment and threw a pillow at Sasuke.

"I never knew you had such a dirty mind Sasuke. Yes, I still am a virgin matter of fact, but the question is, are you? I wouldn't be surprised if you've bedded some girls yourself. Maybe even the crown princess?" Sasuke shot a disgusted look at him.

"Are you kidding me? Me bed Sakura? That's disgusting. She's such a nuisance—a pure and utter annoyance."

"Then why did you agree to marry her?"

"For fun. I can't wait until the ceremony. I bet she'll screw everything up on national TV and think about how she'll deal with the elders." Sasuke snorted. However, Sai's face grew serious. Darkly, he uttered,

"You shouldn't say such things about her Sasuke. She's actually a very nice person, the complete opposite of you."

"How do you know?"

"I thought you told me not to underestimate the mental capacity of a Uchiha. I go to your school and am majoring in chemistry, just like Sakura. We're in the same class idiot."

"I feel sorry for you. Being in a class with that airhead."

"…What are you talking about Sasuke? She's the top student in our department and second only to your friend Shikamaru in our grade. You know…I think her grades are higher than yours and Neji's although her actual IQ may be lower. I heard she's a very hard worker too so I doubt you'll get too much joy of watching her stumble in front of the elders because it probably won't ever happen." This information shut Sasuke up. "Anyways, what kind of fiancé are you? Not bringing her any chocolate or flowers? Or even walking with her in the hallways?" Irritated at Sai's questions, Sasuke snapped,

"I told you, I didn't marry her because I like her. I married her so I can watch her misery. Why should I bring her chocolate and flowers and walk with her the hallways?"

"Because it's the right thing to do."

"Well I don't care." Sasuke said childishly. He turned his attention back to the camera in his hands and turned his back to Sai as if trying to ignore him. Sai just ran a hand through his raven locks and sighed.

-----

"Sit up straighter! Taller! Why are you slouching?" Tsunade barked out commands while nudging and prodding Sakura into the "perfect" sitting position with a bamboo stick. Struggling to sit even straighter than she already was, Sakura stretched her back more and more until she heard a loud popping sound.

"Ouch…" She muttered weakly and rubbed her sore back.

"That's good for today. We'll practice your etiquette more tomorrow. You're dismissed." Trying not to let a look of relief show, Sakura got up as gracefully but swiftly as she could and scurried away. Tsunade sank into her chair and took out a bottle of sake that was cleverly concealed and poured herself a cup.

"Man, that girl's got a long way to go. I hope all goes well in the marriage ceremony or else I'm dead. Ahh, don't worry Tsunade, she'll pull through, I'm positive." With this thought in her head Tsunade drowned another cup of sake.

-----

"Ouch…my back really hurts. I don't see why I had to sit up so tall." Sakura muttered while hobbling to her room, one of her hands supporting her aching back. When she finally arrived there she sank into her bed and sighed deeply. However her time of bliss was short lived for immediately Yuri walked into her room.

"Sakura-sama, Yoshino-sama would like to see you." Sakura let out a huge groan and muttering curses followed Yuri to Yoshino-sama's room. When they finally arrived Yuri knocked on the door politely and stuck her in to inform Yoshino-sama of Sakura's coming. She then ushered Sakura in and once again wished her luck. Sakura reluctantly walked up to the old woman and bowed to her.

"Yoshino-sama, you wished to see me?" Yoshino-sama tore her gaze away from the television she was watching and a hint of a smile appeared on her face when she saw Sakura.

"Yes, I did. Please, sit down." She told Sakura kindly while turning off the television. When Sakura had situated herself into a comfortable chair, she began. "I'm sure you are wondering why I called you here today. I felt it was more proper if I told you that your wedding with Crown Prince Sasuke is to be held a week from now, on New Years."

"I-I-I… what!" Sakura sputtered when she heard this. "B-but that's so soon!"

"Yes, I am aware of that, but I am growing old and wish to see my great-grandson before I pass away. Unlike you, I came from a wealthy family and was well to do even before I married the late King. However, I assure you that all will go fine in the ceremony. I have also called you to inform you that your parents will be taking part in the ceremony, as is tradition. Tsunade-sama should go over your part in the ceremony in the following weeks. Do not worry about messing up, we all do. So there's nothing for you to worry about."

'Easy for her to say…' Sakura sighed inwardly. However, she knew better than to argue with Yoshino-sama and kept quiet.

"I would also like to inform you that your parents will be taking part in this ceremony as is the custom. I tell you this beforehand so you will not be shocked when you see them. That is all, you may leave now." Bowing once again in respect, Sakura got up and left.

'Mom and dad are going to be there…? I'm glad I get to see them but… dammit, they better not mess anything up or else I'll be ruined on national, probably even international, television.' Sakura thought, groaning at her great misfortune. She was almost to her room when she ran into Sasuke. 'Just my luck…'

"You should thank me. I have arranged it so that we continue living in these quarters."

"Why is that?"

"So that we can be farther away from the elders and therefore farther away from their scrutiny. That way you can sneak out about once a month to see your family without the elders knowing. Um… what else was there?" Sasuke took out a little slip of paper and began reciting from it. "You can invite your friends to sleep over at the palace. Oh yea, you and your parents can also use the resort in Nami no Kuni. I bet you've never been out of the county have you?" He was about to recite some more when Sakura interrupted.

"Stop. I said stop it. If that's how you're going to comfort me, then stop it."

"Fine then. Anyways it's what Sai wrote down for me." Sasuke muttered while crumpling the paper into a ball and throwing it on the ground. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair and looked away. "All I can really promise you is power." Sakura looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"When I get older I can do things without people blocking my way. And if by then you can't stand the palace and want to leave, you can. I won't be able to stand a wife longing for her family anyways. But I'm Crown Prince and will become King eventually. Even though I'm young, I know getting a divorce will not be easy to get. So, just tell me right before you're about to die and I'll get a divorce for you."

-----

A week past in no time and the day of the royal wedding had arrived. Decorations had been hung around the whole city to celebrate not only New Years day but the royal wedding as well—an even that hadn't occurred around the globe for more than half a century. Hotels were packed with foreigners and media from countries that Sakura had never even heard of were present. Streets were barricaded and all citizens had the day off. It was a joyous event indeed, with the exception of two people.

-----

(Sunagakure)

At the crack of dawn, Fuyuno Mika was awakened by the sound of her cell phone going off. She looked at the caller ID on it and saw the words Uchiha Sasuke on it. Stiffening slightly, Mika turned off her phone and attempted to go to bed. However, as much as she tried, she couldn't push away the feeling of dread and sadness she felt sinking into every inch of her. At last, after hours of tossing and turning she went to sit on the balcony. What met her was the unfamiliar scenery of Sunanogakure, the town in which she was staying in for an upcoming dance competition. It was to be held a week from then, but Mika had requested her teacher to come earlier as to "get used to atmosphere." Feeling the warm morning breeze caress her skin, Mika sat staring at the sunrise.

Flashback, Mika's POV

I remember that day as if it was yesterday. The train tracks that have now become so familiar to me…the cold wind blowing on my face…the wooden bench in the old and now deserted train station.

Ballet had let me down that day and I decided to let my heart lead me to wherever it may. I came across rusted train tracks and followed them. They led me to an old wooden train station. I bought a ticket to a place I had never heard of and sat on the creaking wooden bench. Someone sat beside me and through my bangs I looked to see who it was. A young man…I had seen that face on television before…a face I had so often seen. He looked at me and smiled when he saw my outfit: an oversized sweatshirt, multiple scarves and a huge hat.

"So, you're running away as well?" I was amazed that he was talking to me, this man whom the whole world most likely knew. I didn't know what to say. Instead, I looked away shyly and mumbled an answer. But then we began to talk and I don't think I've ever been happier in my whole entire life. In the end I decided not to run away. Outside the train station we put our ticket in a box and buried them underneath a tree.

"Five years from now, let's come back to this place and dig the box up again." I nodded in consent. He held out his pinky and I looked at him confused. "Promise me that. We'll come back together." I smiled and hooked my pinky with his. I don't know if he still remembers that promise we made, but I will always remember and cherish that moment in my heart.

End Flashback, end Mika's POV

-----

(Haruno Residence)

Shouta, Keito, and Atsumi, all dressed up in traditional Hi no Kuni garments, kneeled around a picture in Keito and Atsumi's bedroom.

"We must give thanks to our father. You start first." Keito told his wife. Atsumi gave him a dirty look before looking at the picture and bowed respectfully at it.

"Father, like you wished, our Sakura is going to get married. I…I apologize to you when I didn't believe you when you first told us about it." Atsumi, somewhat reluctantly, told the picture and once again bowed. Keito, beaming with pride told the picture,

"Thanks to you father, we are saved. Please help guide Sakura through the Palace so that she will not make any mistakes and bring nothing but honor upon our family. Shouta, say something to your grandfather." Shouta thought for a moment before telling the picture,

"Grandfather, please let me become more muscular sooner so that I can become popular at school." Keito and Atsumi stared at him with disbelief. Finally Atsumi nudged her husband and asked,

"Have you memorized everything? You have to say something during the ceremony, remember?"

"Oh that? Don't worry I remember all of it." Keito told his wife, puffing his chest out in pride. "It's: Never forget to be respectful and obedient. Trust and follow your parents words…uh…trust and follow your parents words…what was after that?" Atsumi threw her hands up in exasperation.

"I thought you said you've memorized it all. How many weeks has it been and you still haven't memorized it? If you make a mistake during the ceremony, I'm really going to divorce you."

"Don't say that. I really did memorize it. It was: Work hard from the time you wake until the time you sleep. Trust and follow your parents' words all the time. See there, I memorized it. Okay, let's go!" Keito said. However, Atsumi held her hand out and blocked Keito.

"Recite it one more time."

"No problem. Work hard…work hard…um."

"We're doomed."

-----

(Konoha)

Tenten, Temari, Ino, and Hinata were standing in the masses of crowds on the streets of Konoha. Tenten and Ino were clutching a bright pink poster in their hands while Hinata was holding a fluorescent green one.

"What in the world are those posters?" Temari sharply asked Ino, Tenten, and Hinata.

"They're to get Sakura's attention." Tenten replied.

"Do you really think she's gong to notice us with all these people around?" Temari asked skeptically.

"We know that. That's why we prepared something." Ino told Temari confidently. She, Tenten, and Hinata lined up and put their arms around one another. Reciting together they said,

"We are the princess' friends Hina-ten-ino!"

"I-I'm h-h-hina."

"I'm Ten!"

"And I'm Ino!"

"Together we are, Hina-ten-ino!" They, excluding Hinata, cried out exuberantly. Temari looked at them in utter disbelief.

"I'm speechless."

"I agree with Temari, Sakura won't notice you guys." A voice behind them said. The four girls whipped around and saw Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru.

"What makes you think that lazy ass?" Ino shot back at Shikamaru.

"With all these people around, there's no way she'll see you." Neji told them calmly.

"Yea right!" Tenten spat back. "We're friends of the Crown Princess. Of course she'll wave to us, just you watch!"

-----

(Konoha)

With the ceremony done with, Sakura and Sasuke were required to ride in carriages around the city. Musicians, dancers, soldiers, and more paraded around with them. Through the streets the huge procession advanced with hundreds of thousands and people screaming from the side. However Sakura paid no attention to the near deafening noise and instead glumly looked at her hands. Sasuke, riding in a carriage before Sakura's, was waving and greeting the people instead. A smirk was gracing his face and he waved to the crowds of people. As the carriages approached the place where Tenten, Ino, Temari, Hinata and the rest of their school was, Sakura's three friends held up their posters high and began calling out to her.

"Sakura! Oi, forehead girl look over here!"

"Sakura-chan! It's us! Hina-ten-ino!"

However, the carriages passed them and Sakura didn't spare one look for her friends. In disbelief and shock they lowered their posters. Smirking at them, Neji told the girls,

"I told you so." He was met by great amount of pain after he said that. Tenten had hit in…a place where guys shouldn't be kicked. Naruto and Shikamaru cringed as Neji doubled over in pain.

"Shut it Hyuuga."

-----

1. Sakura-ojyou-sama: Princess Sakura

2. Yuri-nee-chan: Older sister Yuri literally although in this case, as with many other cases, "nee-chan" is used to refer to a unmarried girl who is older than oneself.

-----

Sakura and Sasuke are officially married now, but what challenges await them! What is Sasuke going to do about his ex-girlfriend Fuyuno Mika, or is he even going to do anything at all? And what complications will result from Sai and his mother's return from Kiri no Kuni? Who knows? Well, I do, but that's beside the point. Tune into the next chapter of Princess Hours to find out!

Next time, Chapter 6: Melancholy

"I can't believe you bit me!"  
-Crown Prince Sasuke Uchiha

-----

Unmei: I am FINALLY done! I'm so sorry that this chapter took me forever but ugh, with school, another fic, and viola competitions, I'm just swamped. I wasn't all too pleased with this chapter, but I hope you guys liked it. I tried to not stick to Goong very much and just use the general plot in use my own quotes and such instead of the ones used in the drama. I hope it was okay… I had to cut out some parts that, in my opinion, weren't too vital to the story, so I hope that's okay as well. Anyways, I MUST thank my reviewers. Without you guys, I wouldn't keep on writing. It's a little sad that I got so little reviews, but it's okay. Even just one review will make me happy.

Sakura4eva: Sorry it took me forever to update! I hope you liked this chapter. Thanks soo much for reviewing. I hope you keep on reading, reviewing (of course), and most of enjoying my fic.

aznmelon: Thanks so much for reviewing (even though it seemed rather half-heartedly.) I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Once again, thanks so much for reviewing.

silverdragon994: Haha, I don't, is she going? Sorry for updating so late. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks soo much for reviewing!

sarafu-chan: Of course I don't mind that some of your chapter 4 is like mine, after all I stole it from Goong. And, are you joking me! You're fic is one hundred million, billion, gazillion, times better than mine! Thanks so much for adding my fic to your favorites as well. I hope you enjoyed it and thanks so very, very, VERY much for reviewing!

Unmei: Well, it might be another month or so until I update…but I'll really try to update sooner than that. Hope all of you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please keep on reading and most of all enjoying my fic. Also, check out some other dramas! If you want any recommendations I have plenty (I love dramas so very, very much!) Anyways, I have to go now so mata, ne?


	6. Melancholy

Ayakare4Unmei: looks to see how many review got on last chapter One blink…two blink. eyes grow wide and teary OMG, I got so many reviews last chapter!! Well, at least more than I usually do. Thank you soo much everyone, I'm so happy!! I think I should stick to not following Goong too closely although it does take me a hell of a lot longer. Oh, yes, yes, before I forget, disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I are a GIRL, and yes I know that my grammar sucks.

Unmei: And for anyone who didn't pick it up…I purposefully made my grammar wrong on the disclaimer. Now, onto the story!!

-----

Princess Hours

Chapter 6: Melancholy

Unmei no Hana

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace)

The ceremony had finally finished and Sakura dragged her weary feat into an overly decorated room. She was to eat the ceremonial dinner with her new "husband" in this small room or so she was told. Sakura plopped herself down in front of one of the low tables, thankful that her massive headdress that most likely weighed nearly five pounds was finally taken off, and waited for Sasuke to do the same. When he did so, Tsunade came into the room and told them,

"Traditionally, the wine ceremony is the second to last ceremony in the royal wedding, the last being the royal couple's first night together. However, since both of you are under-aged, we will postpone this ceremony until you both become adults." She was about to say more until Sasuke cut her off.

"Why do they do that? I mean, why wait until we're adults?" Tsunade looked at Sasuke, stunned that he had asked such a question. Sakura also looked at him as if he had gone crazy.

"What are you thinking? Have you gone insane?" She murmured across the table. Sasuke eyed her lazily and smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm not asking because I want to spend the night with you, because that's far from the truth. But, don't you think it's unfair, restricting us because of our age? Anyways, forget my question and let's proceed with the ceremony. The sooner it's over, the better." Tsunade, albeit stunned, nodded her head mutely and, shaking off the befuddlement, proceeded with the ceremony. Slightly flustered, Sakura shook her head and rolled her eyes at the boy, muttering a few curses under her breath.

-----

Sakura stifled a yawn with the back of her hand and eyed Sasuke curiously. He was looking out of the room and into the hallway where Tsunade and a handful of maids were sitting, supposedly keeping watch.

"What is this? How are they keeping guard when they're all asleep? What a bunch of weaklings." He scoffed abruptly. Sakura's drowsiness instantly dissipated as she felt anger rising within her at his arrogant comment.

"Oi, chicken head! Just because you're the Crown Prince, doesn't mean you can look down on others. Have some compassion and pity those poor maids. They must've been up since dawn trying to finish the preparations for the wedding, unlike you." She told him defensively.

"Why do you care…pinky?" Sasuke asked her mockingly.

"What did you call me? Pinky!?" Sakura screeched, outraged. "You…you…arrogant bastard! Show some more respect!" Sakura lunged herself at Sasuke, grabbed his hand, and bit him hard.

"I can't believe you bit me!" Sasuke yelled out, obviously in pain. He shook her off from him and held his injured hand in his other one. "First you tried to kick me at school and now this? What kind of unmannered peasant are you?" He seethed as he advanced towards her. Sakura stood her ground defiantly, as if daring him to try and harm her. Sasuke however was unable to get any closer to her for he was instantly held back by various maids, awoken by the shouting.

"Sasuke-sama, please control your anger."

"Please, calm down, Ouji-sama."

"Sasuke-sama!"

"Ouji-sama!!"

The maids, perspiration beginning to form at their temples, slowly and with great difficulty dragged the shouting Sasuke out of the room. Sakura stuck out her tongue at the fuming prince and waved mockingly at him. The last she saw was his face; anger and what seemed to be hurt, present on it. When the maids had at last dragged him out and silence once again reigned peacefully, Sakura settled herself on a pillow and, leaning her head onto her hand, quieted into deep thought.

'What kind of person is Sasuke really… He can calmly tell me that I can get a divorce and smile during such a serious wedding ceremony. He has a most atrocious attitude however! But…just now he looked almost…hurt and betrayed. And then also when he was smiling and waving so warmly to everyone during the parade…it makes me want to know him better. It seems like he's always in such deep thought. Sasuke…who are you really?' Yawning, Sakura felt the full effects of the whole day hit her and lowered her head onto a pillow and instantly fell asleep.

-----

Shaken awake by a bowing maid, Sakura groggily rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes.

"Hime-sama, the King and Queen request your presence." The maid mumbled in a low voice. Sakura stood up and smoothed her now very wrinkled dress and followed the maid. When she arrived at the room, Sakura noticed Sasuke sitting already on a couch opposite of his parents. After the maid announced her arrival Sakura bowed in front of the King and Queen and took her place beside Sasuke. She eyed him wearily before turning her attention to her new parent-in-laws. Smiling warmly, the King addressed Sakura,

"We have reduced the number of bodyguards at school to only three. Not only this, but we also have permitted you to go around school without them being around. Instead, they will be stationed outside of the school. I hope you find these choices suitable." Surprised at the sudden changes, Sakura turned her head to look at Sasuke suspiciously. He shrugged his shoulders before nonchalantly looking out the window. Remembering her manners, Sakura bowed her head and murmured a few words of gratitude. The King then dismissed her and Sasuke from the room. When they exited, Sakura turned to Sasuke.

"What did you tell him?" Sasuke looked at her briefly before turning his head away while continuing to walk towards his room.

"Hn. Nothing at all." Came out his trademark reply. Sakura ignored this and ran to catch up with him.

"Thank you Sasuke-kun!" She said, smiling broadly, as if all thoughts of what had happened the night before had disappeared, and ran off to change into her school uniform. Sasuke looked at the figure of the girl fading into the distance before running a hand through his raven locks.

"I told you I didn't tell him anything…." He muttered to no one in particular, the faintest trace of embarrassment showing on his face. Sasuke looked one last time at the door that Sakura had entered before his own room to change.

-----

(Konoha High school)

Sakura had retreated to her new spot of rest on the rooftop to eat lunch. It was the day after the wedding and Sakura sought peace and quiet, both being a foreign concept to her now. Sighing she stretched her arms above her and laid on a bench, staring at the puffy clouds go by. Suddenly a head popped out of nowhere and blocked her vision.

"Ahhh!!" Sakura screamed as she not so gracefully fell off the bench. She rubbed her sore bottom as she sat herself on the bench again and glared at the person who, a wide grin upon his face, was sitting next to her. He tried to cover up his amusement but failed miserably. "What do you want Yamamoto Sai-kun (1.)?" Sakura asked pointedly.

"Don't be mad at me Haruno-san. It's not my fault you're so clumsy." He laughed as Sakura playfully punched him on the shoulder. "Anyways, what's it like being Crown Princess?" He asked somewhat teasingly. Sakura looked down at her hands glumly and sighed.

"It's not as glamorous as I thought it would be. I have no one anymore. I live worlds apart from my family, my new family is distant, and everyone either hates my guts or just plain ignores me. To tell you the truth, I guess I would have felt unhappy too if some random girl came and took away the prince. I'd feel hateful, jealous, and spiteful even. I can understand we're they're coming from. I was an ordinary girl and suddenly became the Crown Princess. Doesn't seem to make sense does is? It's not even some Cinderella story. Either way you look at it, it makes you want to puke." Sakura said, laughing bitterly.

"But, there's nothing I can do about it now. I'll just have to make the best of it. This time, I won't give up like I always did…for my family." She trailed off as she continued fiddle with her hands. Sai looked at her, a strange look upon his face. An unsettled peace reigned until the bell rung, signaling the end of the lunch period.

-----

The bell had rung and Sakura and Sai reluctantly climbed back down the stairs and headed towards their classroom. Before they entered Sakura turned around and faced Sai.

"Sai-kun, thank you so much."

"For what Haruno-san? I didn't do anything." Sai asked, scratching his head confusedly.

"You listened to my complaints. I'm really grateful for that." Sakura told him smiling warmly.

"No problem at all. I'm happy to do it anytime Haruno-san."

"I'm so glad I've made such a good new friend. To tell you truthfully, you really are great."

"If that's the case then call me Sai, Haruno-san. Just Sai."

"Fine, then call me Sakura, just Sakura." Sakura told him.

"Deal."

"Deal." Sakura replied. She then held out her pinky. Laughing at her child-like antiques, Sai linked his own pinky with hers. Grinning widely, the two of them entered the classroom. Little did either of them know that someone lurking in the shadows was watching them, silently fuming. Sasuke watched the two of them enter the room and turned around and stormed away. He didn't know why but seeing the two of them together bothered him.

'Why the hell am I feeling like this? Haruno's nothing to me. She's just a toy for my amusement. I shouldn't be feeling this way. Plus, it's not my place to say whom she can befriend. It's none of my business.' Sasuke growled mentally, angry and disturbed at the fact that a certain pink-haired girl was making him feel the way he was. He decided to let his anger out by practicing and headed in the direction of the practice rooms. However, when he entered the music building, he was surprised to find Fuyuno Mika leaning against a wall.

"…What are you doing here?" He asked after a long period of silence. She looked down smiling to herself silently.

"I want to tell you something… Fuyuno Mika was a fool. All she did was practice ballet, paying no attention to the people around her. But then again, when you look at everyone else competing, they pay attention to nobody either. We're all like robots, totally void of all emotions. All my life's secrets, happiness, sadness, have been used up for dancing and what was left was an empty, emotionless shell.

"So I've decided, I'm going to play all I want now. I promise you, you're going to regret it. You're going to regret for your whole life not waiting for me. Forever. It's game over for us now." Mika told Sasuke, looking at him straight in the eye. However, her serious look was soon replaced by a playful smile.

"But, you'll still play with Mika, ne?" She waited in silence for his reply but none came. Smiling bitterly she turned away. "You're a fool Sasuke, you know that? You're a fool for not playing with me. Like I said, you're going to regret it." Sasuke, cold as ever, turned his back to Mika and slowly began to walk the other way.

"We'll see about that…Fuyuno-san."

-----

Sakura sighed for the umpteenth time. Everywhere she turned she was greeted by cold stares or blatant disregard. She was tracing the lines on her desk when a loud clatter startled her. She looked up and was met by Tenten's indifferent face.

"We have something to tell you." She told Sakura stiffly. Perplexed, Sakura nodded her head slowly.

"What is it?"

"Go up and stand by the teacher's desk." A voice behind her said sharply.

"I-I… okay." Sakura stuttered back at Temari, slightly alarmed. She turned slightly to look at Sai for support. He smiled at her and motioned for her to do as she was told. Nodding faintly, Sakura hesitantly made her way to the front of the room. She looked up at the sea of heads and gulped nervously.

"Before you tell me anything, I would like to thank you guys. You've much better than I thought you would've… I mean, you even kept my desk and chair." She was about to say more when Ino's penetrating voice interrupted her.

"CUE!!" A huge banging sound erupted from all around Sakura and she was suddenly covered in confetti, silly string, glitter and what appeared to be flour (Sakura was told later on that they didn't have enough money to afford so many bags of confetti and had to resort to a cheaper alternative.)

"Huh?" Was Sakura's befuddled reply to all of this. Temari, Tenten, Hinata, and Ino (apparently she had skipped class to come) ran up to the front and pulled out bouquets of flowers, a huge cake, and poster that bore the words 'Congratulations Sakura, Hi no Kuni's kick-ass Crown Princess.' They shoved the flowers into Sakura's arms and set the cake down, hugging her tightly as the rest of the class cheered.

"Cheer up Sakura! You're a married woman now. You're life's over. Don't you realize that?" Temari told her jokingly. She pulled Sakura into a hug again.

"Hey, hey what's all of this? Is it over already?" The lights flickered on and off as Mizuhara-sensei entered the room. "I can't believe you got married before I did Haruno! I'm going to become an old maid if I don't get married soon, ne?" The students in the classroom laughed at their teacher's comment except for one. Sai was too busy staring at the happily smiling Sakura.

'She's mine. You do realize that Sasuke, don't you? You're in my place. It's my place and she's supposed to be mine!'

-----

(Konoha City)

'This sucks…' A very unhappy Haruno Sakura thought yet again. Currently she and Sasuke, or as she liked to call him oh so very affectionately, Chicken Head, were riding in the back of a heavily guarded car. Grumbling silently to herself, Sakura slid down the leather seat as and stared glumly out the window. She was abruptly stirred out of her thoughts when she noticed that they were passing the street that her house was located on.

"Ah, ah, that's my street!" Sakura cried out as she craned her neck to get a better look at it. "I remember going to and from school on that road while riding on my bicycle. Oh, my bicycle, I wonder how it's doing? It rained just recently…I hope it hasn't rusted because of that. I miss riding my bicycle. Hey, Sasuke, why aren't I allowed to ride my bicycle to school?" Sakura asked her companion as she turned to face him. However, Sasuke didn't reply and continued to ignore her, looking out his window.

"Sasuke? Oi, chicken head… chicken head!!" Sakura shouted at the nonchalant prince. And yet he still ignored her. Fed up, Sakura poked Sasuke hard on the arm.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Sasuke snapped as he pulled out the cleverly concealed earphones from his ears. Sakura let out an exasperated sigh when she realized that she had been talking to herself all along.

'Jeez, I must've sounded like an idiot to the chauffeur. He must think I'm schizophrenic or something. I can imagine the headlines now, "BREAKING NEWS: Diagnosis of schizophrenia explains Crown Princesses' odd behavior." Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.' Sakura thought wryly. Afterwards however she turned her attention to Sasuke who was looking at her with an expectant look.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun," Sakura told him as sweetly as she could muster, "could we stop here for a moment?"

"No." Came the quick and sharp reply. Sakura's happy expression fell slightly.

"But…but, we're so close to my house. Can't we just stop for a couple of minutes so I can go see my parents."

"Are you deaf? I said no." Sasuke told her scathingly, raising the volume of his voice a notch. He then put his earphones back on and turned his back to the crestfallen Sakura. In an attempt to not look weak in front of Sasuke, Sakura tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"You know…you're so lucky Sasuke." She told the boy although she knew he wasn't listening. "You're able to see your mother…father…even your grandmother everyday." Sakura started to sob, unable to hold back the tears anymore. "You're really mean and so selfish. Conceited. You don't see how lucky you are and flaunt it in front of everyone, making them feel even more miserable than they already are." Sakura vigorously rubbed her face trying to dry her tears. However as soon as she dried the existing tears, new ones welled up in her eyes to replace those she dried away. Suddenly, Sakura heard a sigh.

"Stop crying. I hate it when people cry. I can't stand it." Sasuke told the girl. He dug around for something in his pocket before pulling out a slightly crumpled handkerchief. Still looking out of his window, Sasuke shoved the handkerchief at Sakura. She accepted the handkerchief after a few stunned moments.

"You…were listening all along?"

"Aa."

-----

(Haruno Household)

"I wonder how my princess is doing…" Came the sad voice of the Haruno patriarch. Clad in a pink apron, Keito took off his matching rubber gloves as he picked up a picture frame. A happy, yet slightly chubby, Sakura smiled back at him. Tears came to his eyes and he squeezed the picture against him tightly.

"I hope she's doing okay. I'm sure trying to learn all the palace rules is so hard for her. How hard it's going to be for her to fit in!" Keito took out a handkerchief from his pocket and, with a loud 'toot,' blew his running nose into it. A piercing voice cut through his lamentations.

"Tch, don't worry so much! You know how clever our daughter is. She'll have no trouble at all." Atsumi said as she gave her husband a stringent look. "Even if she stutters in the beginning, she'll catch on right away and get used to it, so stop bawling your eyes out like a baby. God knows why I married you."

"I hope she's alright…" Keito sighed pitifully. Suddenly a light bulb went off. "OH! Do you think I can call her?" Looking proud of himself, Keito retrieved the cordless phone next to him. He was about to dial Sakura's cell phone number when Atsumi cut him off.

"What do you think you're doing? Don't call her just to cry your eyes out! My goodness, leave her alone and give her some space. She's already 19 years old."

"But, Atsumi, aren't you worried about our daughter. For all we now, she could be silently suffering right now! Imagine what kind of horrible things she may be enduring. Oh the tragedy of it all!" Keito bewailed dramatically, tears streaming down his face. Giving her husband a look of utter disbelief, Atsumi asked,

"Are you seriously a man?"

-----

(Aoyama Hotel)

"What do you want?" Came the curt reply of the 40-year something old woman. She had short black hair, covered by an emerald green scarf, and was wearing a sapphire colored dress. The receiver of the unfriendly greeting was Fuyuno Mika, carrying a bouquet of pink tulips.

"Please, Tanaka-sensei, don't be mad." Mika said, slightly pleading. Her teacher however crossed her arms over her chest and, pouting, looked away.

"Why should I forgive you? I worked so hard with you so that you could be given an opportunity of a lifetime. And when you finally were offered such a chance, you rejected it coldly."

"I know it was wrong of me Tanaka-sensei…but I promise that I'll return to dancing after a year. I just need some time off. When I come back, I'll be even more focused to work and become better. I promise." When Mika said this comment her teacher's face instantly lit up.

"Do you really promise?" The teacher asked Mika eagerly. Nodding her head, Mika smiled and handed over the bouquet.

'Sasuke, just you wait. I'll make you regret leaving me. You're going to regret not waiting for me! Just you wait and see, just you wait.'

-----

(Konoha International Airport)

Carrying a small sign that read 'Welcome Home Mom,' Sai stood nonchalantly at the entrance of the terminal. He brightened up when passengers began filing out of the terminal and into the hall. He made his way to the front and scanned the mass of people looking for a certain person. Finally when he saw her, Sai smiled and waved the poster in an attempt to catch her attention. The person, a very pretty woman in her mid-40's, immediately saw the poster and ran up to greet Sai, hugging him tightly.

"My, my, Sai. You've grown taller since I've last seen you! But look how much weight you've lost!" Sai's mother told him. They're family time however was cut short when a bright flash went off. Turning their heads, Sai and his mother found a slightly pudgy man with graying hair wave to them.

"Oh, such a touching reunion! It brings tears to my eyes to see the true Queen and Crown Prince after so long." The man said while wiping away tears. "Oh, how rude of me for not introducing myself, I am Watanabe Kyou. Good friend of the late true King."

"He was your father's best friend." Sai's mother clarified for Sai. "He agreed to help us in our mission." At this, Sai cocked his head in confusion.

"Our mission? What was that?" With a steely glint in her eyes, Sai's mother replied,

"Don't you remember, Sai? When the old King, your grandfather, banished us after your father died, I promised that I would get revenge for what they did to me. I promised myself that I'd do anything to get revenge on those who made us suffer and that I would restore the throne to it's proper owner, you. I'm going to make them feel all the suffering and hate that I felt."

-----

(Aoyama Hotel)

Fuyuno Mika and her teacher, Tanaka-sensei, were preparing to leave the hotel. They were chatting merrily when they got to the entrance of the hotel. Mika heard the doors of the hotel slide open and glanced up to see who had entered. She was greeted by a very familiar face.

"Ah, it's you! Building A, Class 3-A's Yamamoto Sai-san!" Mika said surprised. The woman next to Sai looked curiously at Mika and then at Sai.

"Do you know her Sai-kun?" Sai nodded his head slightly.

"I've met her a few times. We go to the same school mom." He was about to say more when Mika's ballet teacher shouted out,

"Ahhh, Satsuki-nee-san! Don't you remember me? I'm Tanaka Yuriko! I majored in dance at our school! Oh, Satsuki-nee-san, I thought that I would never see you again after you went away to Kiri no Kuni! I thought you had died or something!" Mika's teacher gushed exuberantly. Sai's mother looked at her for a brief moment, as if examining her, and then her face instantly lit up with recognition.

"Ah, I remember now. Yuriko-san you said? You were always so enthusiastic, how could I forget you?" She said kindly. Tanaka-sensei blushed slightly.

"I'm so touched that you remember me. I mean, you being such an important figure."

"I have a very good sense of memory." Sai's mother said, tapping her head for emphasis.

"Haha, I guess so. Anyways, I'm so glad to see you though Satsuki-san! You haven't changed a bit. No wait, you have. You've gotten so much younger looking. Are you some witch with magical age resistant powers?" Tanaka-sensei babbled on. Suddenly, somewhere through her talking she realized Sai standing next to Satsuki.

"Ah, is this your son? Oh, you've grown so much! You really do look like your mother a lot. Like a real prince I say! Oh, what am I saying? He is the real prince after all! My mistake, sorry." Mika's teacher said talking faster and faster until all that was heard was a blur of words. After a moment, Sai's mother interrupted her.

"It's been very nice seeing you Yuriko-san, but we—Sai and I—must get going."

"Oh of course. So sorry for talking too much." Tanaka-sensei said laughing in embarassment. The four of them then bowed politely to one another. Sai and his mother began to walk away when his mother turned around and said,

"Oh, and Yuriko-san, please don't tell anyone I'm back yet." After saying this, Satsuki turned back again and she and Sai walked away. After they had disappeared from view, Mika turned to her teacher who was smiling broadly.

"You know her?"

"Yep, the two of us were classmates. That is until she became the Queen." This comment surprised Mika very much as she turned to her teacher in shock.

"She was the Queen? But what about Mikoto-jyou-sama?" Mika asked confused.

"Ah, of course you haven't heard. You were too young. About…15 years ago King Fugaku's older brother was actually the king. Satsuki-san was his wife and of course Sai-san was their son. However, the King Masao was killed in a car accident. The old King Tohma banished Satsuki and Sai. It's really such a tragic story." Tanaka-sensei recounted to Mika. Mika nodded understandingly as she processed the new information she had just heard. Suddenly, a look of realization crossed her features as she said,

"Wait a minute, that means Sai would be…"

"The Prince." Tanaka-sensei ended Mika's trailing off question.

"Then would that mean that the current Crown Princess, Haruno Sakura, would have…." Mika trailed off once again, leaving her teacher to finish her sentence.

"I'm not completely sure, but I can guess that our current Crown Princess was actually supposed to be wed to Sai-san instead of the current Crown Prince Sasuke."

-----

1. For clarifications, Sakura does not call Sai with the honorific '-kun' at the end of his name because she likes him or anything like it is in the manga with Sasuke. Instead, it's to do with school "traditions" you could call it.

-----

Hey, everyone, Sakura here! So with me finally settling into life at the palace, what happens next? They say Chicken Head's birthday coming up soon and a huge celebration is being planned! Sounds like so much fun, I wonder if my friends can come too. Wait, Sai-kun was invited too? What's going here? Did he fail to mention something to me? Ah, I'm so confused! Anyways, you don't want to miss the next drama-packed chapter of Princess Hours!!!

Next time, Chapter 7: Revelations

"What!? You're related to chicken head Sasuke?"

-Crown Princess Haruno Sakura

-----

Unmei: So I am soo very super sorry that this took me FOREVER to update! Nearly two months! My gosh, I'm so bad. Hopefully this was worth the wait. If not well…I'm sorry? I'm also so sorry it was a bit on the short side this time. But I think it's still pretty long…but that's just me. Anyways, thanks you everyone for reviewing. You don't know how happy I was!!

heartless soul: I'm so, so, SO very sorry for not updating soon. Do Sakura and Sasuke fall in loved? Well, of course! Or else why would I have put it under the SasuSaku category? But how, well you'll have to just keep on reading!! Thanks so very much for reading.

julene: You don't like my story…that's so sad for me, but I can understand your reasoning. I know it seems like there isn't much SasuSaku action, but in the end, their really gonna end up together. Not really much of a spoiler, but just so everyone knows that, this fic is the SasuSaku category for a reason. Anyways, thanks for reading up until now. I hope you keep on reading.

Epiff Annie: Are my paragraphs really that long? I thought they were rather short actually… Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing! Please keep on reading, reviewing, and most of all, enjoying my fic!!

kurapink: Sorry that there isn't much action in it. I'm really trying to add some more in. There will definitely be some in…two chapters from now I think. Although it might now be action everyone is wanting…. But, thanks so much for reviewing!

And to **Kaydreams, iyashi kaze, Confuzzled239, randomangel, XxaoshixX, Uchiha Rose, rainingblood666, Sakura Angel 4eva, and silverdragon994** thank you ALL so very much for reviewing. I LOVE all of you so much!!


	7. Revelations

Unmei: Yay, I'm FINALLY done w/ the first semester of school and very super ickyful finals (which I hate so very much.) So, I'm SUPER SORRY I haven't updated since…forever! But, ugh, school this year is so busy and I have so many more things for orchestra as well. Well, enough excuses, I should start getting on with the story ne? But before I do, one note:

Disclaimer: Do I look like Masashi Kishimoto? No, I didn't think so.

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Princess Hours

Chapter 7: Revelations

Unmei no Hana

----

(Hi no Kuni Palace, Sunday morning)

"WHATTT!!!" a horrified Sakura screamed. "Your turning _how _old?"

"Twenty." A very pissed off Sasuke said through clenched teeth.

"Oh my god, why did I marry this grandpa? You're so old!!" Sakura said dramatically. "Why did I waste my youth and beauty upon this wrinkly old man?" Unbeknownst to her, a vein was a beginning to pop out of Sasuke's forehead as he clenched his hand into a tight fist.

"What are you talking about? I'm only a couple months older than you are." Sasuke replied in an even voice, attempting to keep a calm and composed face in vain.

"What do you mean 'only a couple months older?' I just turned nineteen and you're already turning twenty. You're just about nine-freaking-months older than I am!" Sakura exclaimed, still oblivious to the ever-rising anger of her companion.

"Want. To. Say. That. Once. More?" Surprised with the brokenness of his speech, Sakura turned to look at Sasuke and was met with unusually red eyes with three black spinning commas. Instantly she felt the blood drain out of her face.

"Oh shit, I'm screwed."

-----

Hey everyone, my name is Haruno Sakura—the current Crown Princess of Hi no Kuni. To most girls this would be their dream come true. I mean what girl wouldn't want to be married to the hottest guy in the county and have wealth and influence like no other? But it's really not that great in fact. Crown Prince Sasuke—or as I affectionately call him _chicken head_—has the worst temper I've seen in all of my nineteen years being alive. His temper's even worse than mine, and that's saying something. He's also arrogant, pompous, thinks he's the best, and just about any other quality that is considered bad. Oh, and another fact about him that I just found out—he's a GRANDPA…

Don't tell him I said that about him. He'll just about kill me…again.

-----

"…like I was saying _before _I was so rudely interrupted," a woman in formal clothing glared at the sheepish looking Sakura, "the Prince's twentieth birthday will be celebrated at the Asahi resort next Saturday. Sakura-san, as the Crown Princess, you are required to attend as well…" Queen Mikoto trailed off as Sakura's hand shot into the air.

"Mikoto-jyou-sama, will I be able to invite my friends?" Sakura asked with an eager look upon her face. Queen Mikoto looked stunned for a moment before hesitantly replying,

"…I suppose so. There shouldn't be any problem with that." Sakura cried out in delight and turned to face her companion.

"Yatta! Did you hear that Sasuke? My friends can come. Ha, I bet you thought Mikoto-jyou-sama would say no! Just wait until I tell Temari, Ino, Hinata, and Tenten. They'll be so happy. None of us have ever been to a resort before. Is it nice Chicken Head? Oh, is the food free? I bet it'll be so yummy!"

"Sakura, shut up and don't call me Chicken Head." Came Sasuke's monotonous reply. "Let Queen Mikoto finish what she was saying."

"Oh, you're right Chicken Head. How silly of me. Please continue Mikoto-jyou-sama." The delighted Crown Princess laughed as she ignored Sasuke's comment completely.

"Yes, thank you. I hope there will be no more interruptions." Queen Mikoto said while giving an apologetic looking Sakura a stern look. "Like I was saying for the second time already, the Prince's birthday will be held at Asahi resort. Sakura-san as Crown Princess you are required to attend and yes you may invite a handful of your friends to accompany you. I hope there will be no complications for the media will obviously be there and will be watching your every move. So, do not do anything you will regret in the future. That is all. You two are dismissed."

'Don't do anything you will regret in the future? What does Queen Mikoto mean by that?' Sakura wondered to herself as she bowed to the Queen and left the room with Sasuke. She was shaken from her thoughts however when she realized that Sasuke had abandoned her and was already halfway down the hallway.

"Hey Chicken Head, wait for me!" Sakura yelled after the retreating figure of Sasuke.

"Don't call me Chicken Head!" Sasuke snapped back at the girl.

"But it's such a fun name to call you! And you call me pinky, so it's only fair that I call you chicken head!" Sasuke just shook his head at Sakura's logic, or in this case lack of it, as he continued to walk away.

"Chicken Head! I said to wait for me!!" Sakura shouted to Sasuke once again as she quickened her pace to catch up with Sasuke. Unbeknownst to the couple, someone was watching them from the shadows. When Sakura and Sasuke rounded the corner and the noise they were making quieted down, Sai walked out from behind a large column with a troubled look. Despite that, he knocked on Queen Mikoto's door and walked in.

"Queen Mikoto, you were looking for me?" He asked while bowing.

"Yes, it's about Prince Sasuke's birthday. Will you be able to attend it?"

-----

(Asahi Resort, Saturday afternoon)

"Wow, it's humongous!" Sakura whispered in awe as she stared at the large resort in front of her. "This is what it's like to be rich I guess."

"Stop babbling and move slowpoke." A sharp voice behind Sakura demanded. Sasuke tugged at his tie to loosen it and looked expectantly at Sakura.

"Why should I? You're always so demanding Chicken Head. Say 'please' and I will, okay?" Sakura told Sasuke in an overly sweet voice.

"You must be dreaming." Sasuke replied and pushed his way pass the girl. However as he did so, Sakura stumbled forward and fell, unaccustomed to wearing high-heels. She let out a scream and closed her eyes to prepare for the hard impact. But it never came. Instead Sakura felt warm arms wrap around her waist and a soft body cushioning her fall. Hesitantly she opened her eyes and saw Sasuke's annoyed face looking at her.

"…why?" She uttered after moments of awkward silence.

"Why what?" Sasuke asked, slightly confused.

"Why did you save me? Don't you hate me?" Sakura asked timidly, as if afraid of the answer. Sasuke let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't hate you. I just think you're annoying. So pay attention to what you're doing okay? I can't save you all the time." Sasuke mumbled quickly, the faintest trace of embarrassment showing on his face.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered, touched by his meaningful, or at least as meaningful as Sasuke would ever get, response. It was then that both he and Sakura noticed how close their faces were to one another. Only a couple centimeters separated their mouths. They were so close that Sakura could feel Sasuke's warm breath upon her face and vice versa. Unconsciously, Sakura felt her face lean forward until…

"Yo, Sasuke-teme, stop trying to make out with your wife in public!!" Naruto's voice broke through the silence. Naruto had arrived holding hands with a blushing Hinata while a furious Neji trailed after them with an exhausted looking Tenten trying to calm him down. Ino, Shikamaru, and Temari had also arrived in a separate car and were looking at the couple with equally amused expressions.

"Baka, shut the hell up. You don't even know what you're talking about." Sasuke retorted, annoyed thoroughly by his friend's comment. He pushed Sakura off himself and got up.

"Ouch, chicken head! What was that for?" Sakura glared at Sasuke as she picked herself off the ground and smoothed her dress. She opened her mouth to chastise the blasé Sasuke more when a car pulled up to the entrance of the resort and a very familiar person walked out of it. Everyone grew silent as Fuyuno Mika approached the group.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke's sharp voice broke the silence. Mika looked at Sasuke and then Sakura somewhat apprehensively before replying,

"Don't you know Sasuke? I was invited here for your birthday like everyone else."

"By who?" Sasuke demanded. But his question was never answered for another car pulled up and a person exited.

"Sai-kun!!!" Ino squealed loudly and rushed over to greet the boy a.k.a cling to his arm tightly like there was no tomorrow.

'Sai's here? I wonder why…' Sakura asked herself as she walked over to greet Sai as well. On her way, she saw Shikamaru shooting daggers at the unsuspecting Sai. Sakura giggled mentally to herself.

'Ohh, looks like someone's j-e-a-l-o-u-s. I guess even lazy bum Shikamaru can fall in love. I can't wait to set Ino and him up together!' Sakura rubbed her hands together in an evil way as matchmaking plots instantly popped into her brain.

"I think forehead girl has cracked finally." Ino's voice rang though Sakura's mind and all her plans poofed into nothingness.

"Want. To. Say. That. Once. More?" Surprised with the brokenness of her speech, Ino turned to look at Sakura and was met with an unusually mad looking Sakura with the words "Inner Sakura" stamped on her forehead. Instantly she felt the blood drain out of her face.

"Oh shit, I'm screwed."

Déjà vu anyone?

-----

"Geez forehead girl, that hurt a ton." Ino said as Sakura applied ice to Ino's forehead where a bruise was beginning to form.

"Sorry about that Ino. I swear, staying around chicken head is making me more violent." Sakura tried to reason as she applied a Band-Aid to a cut on Ino's arm.

"Yea right. She was always violent." Tenten whispered to Hinata who giggled in agreement.

"What did you say Tenten?" Sakura snapped at her friend, a murderous glint in her eyes. Tenten sweat dropped and replied,

"Ah, nothing Sakura. You can continue."

"Anyways like I was saying…" Sakura began to say when a waitress came up to the group and offered a tray of beverages. Sakura stared at the colorful cocktails, unsure of which one to pick. She chose a random one and bowed to the waitress before turning back to her friends. Curious, Sakura took a sip of the drink and immediately spat it back out, making a face.

"Excuse me." Sakura motioned for the waitress and placed the drink back on the tray. "I didn't drink this one, so I'll take this one instead, okay?" She asked and took a different colored drink and took a sip, thankful that this one tasted much better. Satisfied, Sakura turned back to her dumbfounded looking friends and opened her mouth to talk to them. However, before she was able to do so, the sound of someone laughing cut her off. Sakura turned around to face the offender and glared at Sai.

"What is it?" She asked the boy in a tone of mock annoyance.

"It's nothing Crown Princess. Only that it surprises me that here you are drinking cocktails while Sasuke is already beginning to open his presents. Surely the Crown Princess cannot be absent during the present opening ceremony, can she?"

"What! He's starting without me? That inconsiderate jerk." Sakura said as she began to run towards the gazebo where Sasuke would open his presents in. She got to the gazebo in a matter of seconds, but short of breath. However, she pushed through the large crowd until she found Sasuke surrounded by a massive pile of presents and sat beside him, glaring fiercely. If only looks could kill.

'That little… little…chicken-headed, inconsiderate, good for nothing jerk!' Sakura continued to mutter in her head as Sasuke was handed a large present from palace official. Sasuke nonchalantly unwrapped the gift and gave it a momentary glance before handing it to another palace official and received another gift. This process went on until Sasuke unwrapped one very colorful present that Sakura recognized right away.

"From the Crown Princess." The official told Sasuke as she handed him the gift. Sasuke looked at the present as nonchalantly as he had looked at the other ones and proceeded to unwrap it. He lifted up the lid from the box and raised an eyebrow as he looked at the gift. Inside the box were shoes in the same design as his school ones. However unlike the plain white school shoes, these were covered in colorful drawings of ornate flowers and other objects.

"Ah I designed those shoes myself. I got the idea from the carvings of flowers all over the palace." Sakura told Sasuke excitedly. "Do you like them?" Sasuke however didn't answer, but instead Sakura was answered by the mutterings of people behind her.

"Geez, what a tacky gift Sakura."

"Is the royal treasury so low that the Crown Princess had to give him such a cheap gift?"

"Did she really make that by hand?"

As the mutterings from the crowd grew louder, Sakura began to shift in her chair uneasily. She looked at Sasuke hopefully, waiting for answer to her question. None came however. Like all the other gifts he had received, Sasuke put the lid back on top of the box and handed it to an official. Sakura said nothing but looked at her hands, feeling tears prick the corner of her eyes.

"Oh, that's my gift." A voice called out as Sasuke was handed another gift. Sakura looked up and saw Fuyuno Mika. Mika pushed her way through the crowd until she stood before Sakura. She looked at the chair in which Sakura was sitting before saying, "Excuse me, but that was my seat Haruno-san."

"Eh?" Sakura squeaked, and looked down. Sakura, much to her horror, found the jacket that Mika had been wearing underneath her. Instantly, she stood up and tried to un-crumple the jacket by shaking it out. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize." Sakura muttered in shame as she handed the jacket to Mika.

"It's fine Haruno-san. Suke-kun, do you like my present? It's the newest model." Mika told Sasuke who was oblivious to the scene going on beside him. Sakura watched the two of them from the sidelines feeling dejected. But what hurt her the most was what Sasuke said next.

"Aa. It's nice." He replied. Obviously happy, Mika plopped herself down on the chair beside Sasuke and took her gift from him—an mp3 player—and began to show him all the functions. Unbeknownst to the couple however, Sakura pushed her way through the crowd, tears beginning to stream down her face, and ran as far away as she could.

'Suke-kun? They're that close that she has a nickname for him?' Sakura thought, as she reached a secluded bench overlooking a pond. 'Well that's pretty obvious, isn't it Sakura? After all, he did propose to Fuyuno-san…I made such a fool out of myself.' Sakura sighed heavily, another batch of fresh tears ready to spill over. However, a handkerchief was suddenly pushed in front of her face. Startled, Sakura took the handkerchief and looked up.

"My mom was right. Girls look prettier when they're happy than when they're crying. So smile Sakura. That frown makes you look even uglier." Sai told Sakura as he took a seat next to her.

"Thanks…I think Sai." Sakura said, smiling a little at Sai's comment, however ignoring the last part.

"It's nothing." Sai commented, turning to face Sakura. Noticing that there were still tears on her face, he frowned some and took the handkerchief from her hands, wiping up the remaining tears. "There you go. All pretty again. Don't worry about Sasuke. He's been like that all of his life—insensitive and emotionless. You'll get used to it eventually."

"Really…I guess that's true. Wait, but how would you know that Sai? After all you just moved here from Kiri no Kuni I heard." Sakura asked, confused.

"Sasuke didn't tell you? Figures, how typical of him. I'm Sasuke's cousin." Sai said nonchalantly, smiling as if what he just said was nothing of importance.

"What!? You're related to chicken head Sasuke?" Sai laughed at Sakura's horrified expression as he explained to her.

"Chicken head Sasuke? I hope I'm not smiling faced Sai—I'm not big on epithets. But yeah, Sasuke's my cousin, believe it or not. We've always been close although we're nothing alike." Sai leaned back against the bench and looked faraway to the horizon. "We lived together from when we were born until I was around five. But after a tragedy struck the palace, my mom and I were forced to move to Kiri no Kuni. If it weren't for my mom's work, we probably wouldn't have moved back here. I haven't been in touch with Sasuke since, but even after nearly 15 years of separation he's still the same as he was before we moved."

"A tragedy struck the palace? What do you mean by that Sai?" Sakura racked her brain for any news of a tragedy in the palace, but was unable to remember any. She looked carefully at Sai, noticing that he wore a sad expression, and waited for another explanation.

"It's—" Sai began before he was cut off by screaming and shouting in the distance.

"Forehead girl!!"

"S-Sakura-san."

"Sakura!!"

"It seems like your friends are looking for you Sakura. You better go to them before they start to worry." Sai told Sakura as he helped her off the bench.

"I guess so. Thanks for making me feel better Sai. I really appreciate it. Well, I guess I'll see you at school then!" Sakura said, smiling brightly at Sai, as she ran off to find Ino and the rest of her friends.

"If only it didn't happen, then you would be standing by my side right now." Sai whispered to the air, letting the wind carry his words far off into the distance as he watched Sakura tackle Tenten. "Would you be mine if I told you the truth, Sakura?"

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace, Saturday night)

"What a drag. The only time I've ever been to a resort and I have to come back the same night." Sakura complained loudly.

"Don't complain Sakura. We have to greet the elders in the morning, remember?" Sasuke pointed out to the girl.

"That's right, I totally forgot. It's Sunday tomorrow and I can't even sleep in. Might as well not sleep at all if I can't sleep in!" Sakura said as she opened the door to her room. "Now if you'll excuse me I'll…" Sakura trailed off, suddenly noticing Sasuke's change in shoes. Instead of the dress shoes he had been wearing earlier that day, he had changed into the school shoes Sakura had given him as a gift. "Aren't those—" She began to say before Sasuke cut her off with a large yawn.

"Go to bed Sakura instead of trying to stay up all night. It's getting late and you'll need the sleep." He told the girl sharply and hastily retreated inside his room. Sakura let the words sink into her for a moment before she too retreated into her room, a large smile gracing her face.

-----

(Sunday morning)

"Was that Fuyuno Mika?" Sakura asked after Sasuke had finished talking on the phone with someone.

"Yes." Was his short answer.

"Well there's no need to eye me like that." Sakura muttered. When Sasuke looked at her questioningly, she explained, "Just now, you were looking at me. There's no need to do that since you're just talking to your friend."

"Eyeing you?" Sasuke scoffed. "There's no need for me to do that. Whether I'm married or not I will pick up the phone whenever I want without thinking or caring what anyone else is thinking. The reason I was looking at your face is because there's a piece of rice stuck to it." Feeling her face redden, Sakura turned around and felt her face. When she located the piece of rice she stuck in her mouth and turned around.

"Wasn't that a bit harsh?" Sakura mumbled. "Even if you married in order to get away from the elders, how could you say that in front of me? It makes me feel like the goods that are used for trade. It makes me feel bad."

"What right do you have to say that?" Sasuke asked, stabbing a piece of cake with his fork. "First off, you married me for my money. I heard you begged the Queen to help you solve family's financial problems. I heard you were a smart, but simple-minded girl. Who knew that you could be so devious as well? How do you feel now, looking at your bank accounts? Does it feel good to have money? What's this, you look so angry. Did I say something wrong?"

"If it's possible, I feel like twisting your mouth off." Sakura said crossly. She suddenly stood and looked at Sasuke. "Fine, it's true that I married you for money. Are you satisfied now? Yes, I felt good when I saw the bank accounts. I felt that I had done well. Since you already labeled me as a gold-digger, I might as well take your property as well and help my poor family. I'm upgrading my plan now. Marry a good husband and keep a hold on him. Take all his money so I can upgrade my status and wealth. You better be careful from now on Sasuke, you jerk!" Sakura yelled, sobbing, as she ran out of the room. Sasuke sat stunned, fiddling with his fork.

-----

Sakura ran into one of the many courtyards in the palace, tears streaming down her face. Wanting to have some peace and quiet, she headed in the direction of a rather isolated fountain. However, when she arrived there, she noticed someone else was already present.

"Sai?" At the sound of his name, Sai turned around and when he saw Sakura, smiled. He scooted over to one side of the bench he was sitting on and motioned for Sakura to sit next to him, which she gladly did after wiping the tears off her face. "So all along you were part of the royal family. I still can't believe you didn't tell me earlier."

"According to the Law of the Imperial Household, all other relatives must live outside the palace. It's because of that that I don't live in the palace. Instead, I can only come inside the palace once a day to say the morning greetings." Sai explained. "But, I guess I still should've told you earlier."

"That's right, you should've." Sakura nodded in agreement. "Anyways, what have our classmates been talking about? It seems like I haven't gone to school in so long." Sai was silent for a few moments, as if wondering how he should answer Sakura's question.

"Just about how the modest cat unequally rose up, how such a face could attract the Crown Prince, and other nonstop talk like that." Sai answered. Sakura made a face and whipped out a mirror, inspecting her face. She glared reproachfully at Sai when he started to laugh. "You actually believe all that nonsense I just said?"

"What! You were just joking?" Sakura asked, feeling blood rush to her face. "What are they really talking about?"

"Mm, they say that although you are cute, you're not Shin's type." Sai responded. Sakura opened her mouth to talk when her cell phone started to ring.

"Hello?" Sakura answered it.

"Where are you?" Sasuke's voice replied. Sakura hesitated, unsure of what to answer.

"Why do you care? Are you calling to affirm whether I stole something or not?" Was Sakura's annoyed reply. She then closed her phone and stuck her tongue out at it.

"Already having a lover's quarrel?" Sai laughed. "It seems like you guys are having a fun life. You better hurry and go though. Or else he'll starting throwing a temper tantrum if you let him wait too long." Sakura sighed reluctantly. She slowly got off the bench and languidly walked back to the palace.

-----

"I was thinking of inviting you to dinner tonight." Sasuke said as Sakura entered his room. "You can even invite a few friends along if you want."

"Are you fooling around with me right now?" Sakura asked. Sasuke sighed and bent down so that they were eye-level. He put his hands on her shoulders, but Sakura immediately threw them off. "Don't! I don't ever want to see you again." She yelled, trying to push him away from her.

"Hey, I was kidding." Sasuke replied, somewhat taken aback. He was about to say something else when he caught the look on Sakura's face. "You want to go home, don't you? Should I arrange it so you can? Or would you rather me invite your parents over here?" He asked, sympathetically. All Sakura did was nod, feeling tears surfacing again. Seeing her tears, Sasuke sighed and brought her face to his shoulder, allowing her to cry out her emotions.

-----

(Saturday morning)

"What did you say?!" Sakura asked as she accidentally spat out some of the orange juice that she had been drinking. Sasuke grimaced and wiped the orange juice from his face, making an inaudible noise of disgust.

"I said, you're parents are visiting today."

"Today? Why did no one tell me about this earlier? Oh, and I have so much work to do today. Tsunade-sama gave me loads of kanji to practice that were supposed to be finished today. When she finds out I haven't done any, she'll make me do it all this afternoon. What am I going to do?" Sakura whined. She opened her mouth to complain more when a light bulb went off. With a crafty smile upon her face, Sakura turned to Sasuke, who was reading a book and drinking tea. "Ne, Sasuke-kun!"

"No." The boy replied, his eyes not even leaving the book.

"But, I haven't even asked anything yet." Sakura pouted, her hopes slightly crushed.

"I know you're going to ask a favor of me. Unfortunately, I am unable to help you for I need to study in the Western library." And with that, Sasuke closed his book and walked away, leaving Sakura fuming.

"Oh, that…that…chicken head! Fine, see if I need your help. I can finish without you!!"

-----

"I apologize, I should have invited the both of you to the palace earlier." King Fugaku said as he motioned for Keito and Atsumi to drink the tea a maid had placed in front of them. "It was very impolite of me to not properly greet my new in-laws."

"Ah, yes, yes." Keito nodded absentmindedly as he attempted to drink the tea despite his very shaky hand. He sipped the tea in a noisy manner and, letting out a sigh of satisfaction, set the tea back on the table. Atsumi shook her head in disgust at her husband and stepped on his foot.

"Please, excuse my husband." She apologized, shooting daggers at Keito. "It's our honor to be invited here, even though you are busy. Because we didn't teach her properly, I ask if she has been…um, how to put it, troublesome or a pain?"

"No need to worry, Atsumi-san. Although she is silly at times, she is very hard working." Yoshino-sama assured the family.

"Yes, that's our daughter. She may not be the brightest, but she can adapt to anything." Ignoring the looks his wife was giving him, Keito smiled as he continued to talk about Sakura. "Even if there was a plane crash she would survive. And if she was dropped in the desert, she would make dumplings from the cactus." Atsumi groaned at Keito's comment.

"What did I do to deserve this husband?"

-----

Sakura scratched her nose with the end of a calligraphy brush as she stared at the blank piece of paper. She dipped the already saturated brush in a bowl of ink and looked at her paper again. Seeing that Tsunade was engrossed in the book that she was reading which looked suspiciously like the perverted ones Kakashi read, Sakura inched her hand over to where her cell phone laid. In one swift movement, Sakura whipped it in front of herself and opened it quietly. Or so she thought.

"Crown Princess, you are forbidden from using your handheld device during study. You should know that by now." Tsunade snapped her book shut and gave Sakura a reprimanding look. "Remember this is the order of the Queen herself: to not release you until you have finished all your studies for the day."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." Sakura mumbled. "I understand." Sakura placed her cell phone back on the massive stack of books and grudgingly began to finish her work.

-----

"Mom, Dad!" Sakura yelled as she entered a room, carrying many colorful bundles. She burst into the room but much to her dismay, found it empty. "Mom…Dad, where are you?" She walked up to a large table in the middle of the room and saw a large pink package. Setting her bundles down, Sakura picked up a note on the top of the large pink one. It read: "Sakura, mom and I are sorry. We waited for a long time until we left. I packed your favorite dumplings in here. –Dad."

"How could they do this to me?" Sakura whispered, tears beginning to fall down her face. She glanced at the pink package and slowly began to untie it. The package contained several boxes full of dumplings. Sobbing all the while, Sakura set all the boxes on the table and opened them. She grasped a pair of chopsticks in her hands and began to shovel dumplings into her mouth, not caring that they were rather bland due to the lack of soy sauce. More tears began to fall from Sakura's eyes, the saltiness mingling with the dumpling taste.

"What is this? How could you just leave? You should've called at least. I wanted to see you guys so badly. How could you just leave? Tsunade-sama made me do extra work today. I concentrated so hard, yet it still took me a long time to finish everything. I really tried to hurry for you guys. I wanted to see you guys so badly."

-----

Wiping her still tear-stained face, Sakura walked back to her room slowly, a maid following behind her while carrying the pink package. Just as Sakura approached her room, Sasuke and Kakashi appeared. Sakura looked at Sasuke reproachfully before saying,

"What kind of son-in-law are you actually? Sending away a mom and dad who just wanted to see their daughter. Just acting cool everyday." Sasuke just stared at Sakura, choosing to remain silent as she let out another sob. "I wanted to see mom and dad so badly." At that time, Kakashi chose to speak up.

"Crown Princess Sakura, we didn't even know they had already left. We chose to leave them alone for even Prince Sasuke said how the three of you might feel uncomfortable with him around. He wanted to wait until the finished talking before he appeared. Please, don't blame the Prince for what happened." Kakashi explained. Sakura looked at Sasuke in disbelief. Sasuke on the other hand looked away, avoiding eye contact with the girl.

"Instead of telling her useless information, tell her what's next on her schedule Kakashi." He said abruptly and walked to his room.

-----

Hesitantly, Sakura walked into Sasuke's room. She noticed he was listening to his new mp3 player and was reading a book but nevertheless took a seat next to him. After twiddling with her thumbs for a few moments and listening to a nondescript tune Sasuke was humming, Sakura finally gained enough courage to speak.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, for blaming you. Although I'm married to you, I guess I still don't understand you at all." She stopped for a moment when Sasuke stopped humming. But when he continued to flip the pages of his book, she continued to talk.

"You still like Fuyuno Mika, don't you? If…my family kept resisting marriage till the end, and we never got married, you, probably, would've married her, right? Because…she's the one you really like. In that case, you'd probably have a happier look on your face right now. It seems like I've become an obstacle between both of you. So I feel sorry towards both of you and Fuyuno Mika. But when I remember that you could've married her…I feel even worse. I don't know why I'm saying this to you. I'm weird aren't I?" Sakura stopped speaking again when Sasuke closed the book he was reading. He gave her a momentary glance before standing up.

"I'm going to the restroom." He announced and left the room. When she confirmed he was out of the room Sakura peered at his mp3 player, curious to see what he was listening to. But much to her dismay, she found it was turned off.

"What are you doing?" Sakura gave a yelp and jumped up at Sasuke's voice. He was leaning through the door and gave her his trademark half-smirk, as if telling her that he knew what she was doing. Sakura felt the blood rise to her face as she bolted out of the room as fast as her feet would let her.

-----

"He listened to everything you said and pretended that he didn't hear a thing?" Ino laughed over the phone.

"I can't say for sure, but from the expression he gave me, I'm almost positive about it. Oh, I'm so embarrassed, I'm about to go crazy." Sakura whined. "What do I do? But at the same time, it's not like I confessed anything to him. I didn't say 'I like you' or anything like that. I shouldn't be so embarrassed."

"You idiot." Ino sighed. "It's practically the same thing."

"R-really?"

"You're just like the main character in this book I'm reading. Why must all you people with contract and arranged marriages fall in love with each other in the end? You must really like him if you're fretting over it this much." Ino reasoned.

"I…love him?" Sakura whispered.

-----

Aa, Sasuke here. Jeez, I have to go on another boring trip as a part of the Royal Family to Kiri no Kuni—what a drag. I hear pinkie has to stay here in order to learn more etiquette, something she sorely needs. I also hear once I come back we have to go to some boring party again. I hope she doesn't make a fool out of herself. Anyways, why Kiri no Kuni? I hate that place. Wait a second! Is that Mika?

Next time, Chapter 8: Scandals Galore

"Sasuke, let's spend the day together and forget about everything and everyone around us."

-Fuyuno Mika

-----

Unmei: Happy (very, extremely late) Holidays! Jeez, I thought this would only take me a couple of days since it was (yes past tense, was) winter break, but no, it took me a couple weeks to finish. I need to find more motivation. **So, if any of you guys have any ideas of something I could incorporate into the story, I would appreciate that so very, very much!!** I'm having hard times thinking up original ideas, since I'm trying to keep it relatively close to the original Goong plot. Note to self, never base a fanfic off of a drama/book/anything already established.

Anyways, sorry this took me a new (horrible) record of…just about four months. I did try to make this chapter longer because it took me so long to update. However, I must thank all the reviewers who have stuck with me despite my horrible updating habit and shaky plotline. You have no idea just how thankful I am to all of you!

baby's breath: Thank you so very much for your very uplifting and encouraging review. I'm so glad you liked the last chapter. I really did work hard on it to make it more interesting yet not off topic and pointless. I'm so glad you're enjoying this fic! Thanks once again and I hope you continue to read, review, and most importantly enjoying this fic!!

silverdragon994: I did try to put more NaruHin, NejiTen, and ShikaIno in this chapter (although it was still quite light.) I will try very hard to incorporate more into the later chapters. Thanks so much for always reviewing—it's so very encouraging to me. Hope you keep enjoying my fic like always!

emotionlesbastard: And I thought you were emotionless. I was so happy when I saw your review. Someone who loves my story, yes!! I'm trying to gradually make Sasuke less heartless, but it's hard to make it gradual, and not choppy and sudden. Thanks for reviewing!! Hope you keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying!

cutiepug66: Haha, thanks so much for your review. I'm glad you love my stories!!

Karin Kinomoto: Goong is probably one of my favorite Korean dramas as well, although I do really like Delightful Girl Choon-hyang and My Name is Kim Sam Soon just as much. Sorry it took me such a long time to update this time. Thanks for reviewing; it's really encouraging to me!

Sakura Angel 4eva: Ah, I'm so sorry for not updating sooner. I really need to make more time in my schedule to update more often. I really ought to, especially since I get so many heartwarming reviews and encouragements from all of you reviewers. Well, I'll try this semester to update sooner. So thank you very much and I hope you keep on enjoying my fic!!

rainingblood666: Yes, Sasuke trying to be nice (and not succeeding all too well.) This is the part I love about most dramas where the main girl and guy get together. Anyways, thanks for reviewing and I hope you keep on reading!!

iyashi kaze: So much drama? Really? I didn't think there was that much, but I'm glad you thought there was—it's what I'm aiming for overall. Thanks for reviewing all the time—it really encourages me. I hope you keep on reading, reviewing, and most importantly, enjoying this fic.

Sakura Blossom: You live in the Philippines? How awesome! I want to go there…just another hop from Japan. I hope the English is good, and judging from yours, it must be. Thanks for reviewing and I hope you keep enjoying my fic as well as Goong!!

waterkunoichi: Haha, I guess I have to thank all my English teachers for my good grammar. I do try to have correct grammar. Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing!

MiMi-Ayumi: Yay, yet another new reviewer. I'm so happy. Hope you enjoy the rest of my story and thanks so much for reviewing.


	8. Scandals Galore

Unmei: teary-eyed So many reviews!! I'm so happy. Now, I'm so inspired to write even more! Yay!! You see, it's a win-win situation for everyone if everyone reviews (hint hint.)

Disclaimer: Blah, I think everyone's smart enough to know I don't own Naruto, Goong, etc.

-----

Princess Hours

Chapter 8: Scandals Galore

Unmei no Hana

-----

(Haruno Household)

A warm summer breeze blew through the air making the tops of trees sway ever so slightly. The chorus of the chirping bugs filled the summer night and a full moon rested in the clear night sky. The din of the city had quieted to a soft whisper and even the fluorescent lights were unable to be seen. All was quiet and at peace…that is until,

"Get your freaking leg off of me right now chicken head, OR ELSE!!!"

So much for peace and quiet.

"Mmphf, I will once you get your arm off my face pinkie!"

It was a typical day at the Haruno household, that is until 7 p.m. rolled around and a knock at the door signaled the much-anticipated arrival of the Crown Prince and Princess of Hi no Kuni—Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Now how did all of this happen? Well you see…

-----

(Two days earlier)

"That stupid, conceited, good for nothing jerk!" Sakura growled fiercely. "He went to breakfast without me for the second time this week! Wait until I show him what I'm made of." Stomping hard enough to make the walls of the palace shake ever so slightly, a fuming Crown Princess stormed her way to the greet the elders, her two assistants cowering behind a column. When she arrived at her destination, Sakura looked for Sasuke in the crowd of people, but was unable to find him.

'Where is that chicken head? He better not be hiding from me!' She thought as she chewed on her bottom lip in frustration. She stomped around the dining room for a few more seconds, scaring the living daylights out of a handful of old people who looked as if they were about to bite the dust, before a palace assistant approached her.

"Sakura-sama, the king wishes to see you." The palace assistant told her and led a confused yet compliant Sakura away from the crowded dining room to the King's personal living quarters. When Sakura entered she saw Sasuke sitting on a couch opposite of one that the king and queen were sitting on. Bowing slightly to Yoshino-sama, the king and the queen in respect, Sakura stormed over to where Sasuke was sitting and sat down next to him, glaring viciously. Sasuke, however, ignored her looks as usual and continued to stare nonchalantly at nothing in particular. Unaware of the current tension between the two adolescents, King Fugaku cleared his throat and began to speak.

"This morning, Prince Sasuke came to me with a most unusual request, but I feel that it was also a most reasonable one. He came to me early in the morning to ask me for my permission to stay at Sakura-san's house for a few days." When Sakura heard these words, she felt her spirits lifting.

"Really?" She gasped in surprise as she looked at Sasuke, who, as always, ignored her.

"Yes. I feel that it is a good idea for the Prince to spend some time in a different environment than he is used to for a few days." The King continued. "It'll be a great help to him as the future Royal Family's successor. What do you think Yoshino-sama?"

"Oh, what a wonderful idea! It's like a traditional wedding were the groom stays at his in-law's house for the first three days of their marriage. Isn't that our customary practice?" Yoshino-sama said excitedly to which Sakura gave out a loud shout of joy. "I also believe it's better to let the Princess make a trip back home before she starts missing it to much. What do you think Queen?"

"Yes…"The Queen replied quietly. "That sounds like a good idea to me. So what do you say Princess? Do you have any other plans?" Sakura opened her mouth to reply when Sasuke leaned forward to pick up his tea. A hesitant Sakura nudged Sasuke and gave him a questioning look to which he shrugged. Smiling broadly again, Sakura turned her attention to Queen Mikoto and nodded her head vigorously.

"No, I'm fine with it Queen Mikoto."

-----

"Thank you so much." Sakura said as she grabbed a fleeing Sasuke's arm. "I was so upset that you had left without me, but I didn't know about it. I'm so dumb, aren't I?" Sakura laughed.

"How many rooms do you have in your house?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Came Sakura's unintelligent reply.

"I must have a room to myself. Understand?" Sasuke smirked at Sakura before he let out a sigh. "Ah, it's going to be hard staying at your house. Should I tell them I can't go?"

"Hey you can't do that!" Sakura relied indignantly. "And even if you don't go, I'll go myself." Sasuke apparently found this very amusing as he let out a snort.

"You really think they'd let you do that?" He asked. "Let me tell you this Sakura. They only agreed to this because I'm going with you."

"That's a lie, you conceited jerk!" Sakura yelled and hit him with the scarf she was wearing. "You'd better apologize."

"For what? Being nice to you? Do you have any objections to that?" Sasuke asked. When Sakura could think of no comeback, he smirked again. Leaning down to eye level with Sakura, he inched his face closer to hers, making Sakura blush a bright pink that rivaled her own hair color. "I thought so." He said and poked her forehead. Ignoring her angry cries, Sasuke walked away, a small smile beginning to form on his face.

-----

(Present Day, Couple Hours Earlier)

And so, after two days of preparation, Sasuke and Sakura made the short car trip down to her house and were welcomed by a swarm of news reporters and other media workers as well as fan girls.

"Sasuke-kun!! Look over here!"

"Prince, I love you!"

"Marry me!"

"Idiot, he's already married." Sakura growled under her breath to the hordes of fan girls that were pushing one another in an attempt to get nearer to Sasuke.

"Jealous, are we?" A voice next to Sakura muttered. Blushing a brilliant red, Sakura replied,

"Of course not, why would I be chicken head? I mean, who would want to marry you? Only an idiot would like you…" She trailed off, noticing that Sasuke wasn't listening to her. 'That's just like Sasuke. Always ignoring what others say.' Sakura sighed in defeat.

As she stepped out of the car Sakura felt as if had been blinded by the thousands of flashes from the cameras of the reporters. Smiling with the most sincere cheesy smile she could muster, Sakura bowed to the reporters and hurried through the open doors where her parents were waving happily. After she shut the gate to the garden with a muted slam, Sakura turned to her parents and felt various emotions begin to surface.

"Mom…dad…I missed you guys so— Hey! Are you even listening to me?!" Sakura screamed as she realized she had been deserted by her parents who were eagerly leading Sasuke into their house. Growling slightly, Sakura ran to catch up with them.

-----

'That's odd…' Was Sakura's first impression when she entered her house. Usually the place was sparkling clean without a speck of dust anywhere. Then, what was this strange gritty feeling she felt beneath her feet…? She found the culprit right away.

"Hey! Don't you know any manners?" Sakura shouted at Sasuke when she picked up her foot and saw specks of coarse dirt on it.

"Huh?" Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks as Atsumi and Keito gave their daughter a questioning look.

"Your shoes. Don't you know that you're supposed to take them off before entering someone's house?" Sakura asked, wiping off the dirt from the bottom of her once pristine feet.

"Oh, um…" Came Sasuke's unintelligible answer. When he realized what Sakura meant he hastily retreated back to the entrance of the house to take off his shoes as Sakura explained,

"It must because in the eastern wing were we live, we're allowed to keep our shoes on since so many people are constantly going in and out. But honestly Sasuke, I thought you learned normal etiquette manners, not just those of the palace, seeing how your prince and everything. But then again, you're just a spoiled Chicken Head." She finally ended, sticking her tongue out at the prince. Sasuke opened her mouth to retort when a loud voice interrupted him.

"Chicken head? Forehead girl, that's not right. Aren't you supposed to call him 'Honey' or 'Sweetheart' or something mushy like that?" Shouta asked.

"Tch, sweetheart my ass." Sakura snorted. "Wait a second…what did you call me Shouta?!" Grinning broadly, Shouta gave Sasuke a high five before retreating to his room upstairs in order to escape a fuming Sakura. While Sakura attempted to chase her brother, Atsumi turned to Keito and sighed.

"This is going to be a long three days."

-----

(Night, Day 1)

"You can sleep in the main bedroom tonight prince. It's not very large, but it's the best room in our house." Keito told Sasuke after dinner was finished and the family had gathered in the living room to eat fruit.

"Please, no need to be so uptight with me. I didn't come here to get special treatment; I came hear to see how a normal family functions. That's why I didn't let all the body guards come." Sasuke said as he stared at the apple skewered onto a toothpick intently.

'Tch, don't want special treatment huh?' Sakura quietly scoffed as she shoved the apple piece into Sasuke's mouth, tired of seeing him just staring at it.

"But what are we going to do about sleeping, mom? There're only two rooms in the house, other than the attic where Shouta sleeps." Sakura trailed off when Sasuke, cheeks red from near choking, grabbed Sakura's hand tightly.

"Don't worry, we'll share the same room." He said smiling broadly.

"…."

Silence enveloped the house as Keito and Atsumi froze and Shouta dropped the piece of fruit he was eating.

"WHAT!?"

-----

"Hn, so this is the room you spent 19 years sleeping, studying, and eating in? You did all that here? In this tiny space?" Sasuke immediately asked when Sakura showed him into her small pink room.

"That's why I told you to sleep in my parent's room, didn't I? You can still sleep there if you want." Trying to get the pig stuffed animal back from Sasuke who had stolen it, Sakura nudged Sasuke near the exit of her room. But Sasuke sidestepped Sakura and walked further into the room.

"No, I'm fine sleeping here. But there's one problem."

"What is it?" Sasuke draped his arm over Sakura's shoulders as he inched his face towards hers.

"You and I…we're two people. But this bed of yours is only a single. So why don't you just…whisper whisper?"

"Are you out of your mind?" Sakura asked defiantly and crossed her arms. "I slept here on this bed for 19 years. I'm not going to be sleeping on the floor anytime soon. You sleep on the floor." Sasuke scoffed as he began taking off his sweatshirt.

"And for 19 years I have slept on a bed the size of your room." Sasuke replied at a blushing Sakura.

"What…what are you doing taking your clothes off?" Sakura asked, her blush beginning to deepen as Sasuke raised one eyebrow at her in amusement. "Anyways, I don't care. You can take some blankets and sleep on the floor." Sakura said as she crawled into her bed and threw the covers on top of her.

"Really? Then we can sleep together." Sasuke lifted up the covers, nudged Sakura to one side and squeezed himself onto her small bed as well, tightly hugging her stuffed pig.

"Hey! What are you doing?" A flustered Sakura asked. "So you came to my house to make my life miserable?"

"Aa."

"Is it that fun to play around with me?"

"Aa. You're just like an amazing toy who spices up my dull life."

'A toy, huh? A toy you say?' Inner Sakura screamed as Sakura threw angry glares at Sasuke who merely closed his eyes and scooted closer to Sakura and farther from the edge of the bed.

"Fine, do what you want. But let me warn you, I'm not a very still sleeper. I guarantee you that you'll be kicked off this bed in no time." And with that final statement Sakura pulled the covers tighter and closed her eyes, making sure to kick Sasuke hard.

-----

(Yamamoto Yoga Clinic)

Mika Fuyuno and Sai's mother, Satsuki, sat together at a traditional Japanese table as they drank green tea in silence. It had been a couple weeks since Satsuki had opened the yoga clinic, claiming she needed a steady job even if she was part of the royal family, and Mika had been a regular customer ever since then.

"Right now when you were practicing yoga, you seemed nervous. Is there anything that's troubling you?" Satsuki finally asked, breaking the long silence.

"Ah…nothing in particular. It's probably because exams are coming up and I've never excelled in my studies." Mika replied, as she looked down uncomfortably, knowing that this was not the truth. To get off the uneasy topic, she decided to ask Satsuki a question she had been wondering about for awhile. "Satsuki-san, what was life in England like?" Tapping her chin in deep thought, Satsuki answered,

"England? Life in England was good…very suitable for my son and I. It's a very interesting country though. The people place a lot of concern on the Royal Family."

"It's very similar to our country then I guess."

"In a sense yes it is." Satsuki paused a while before continuing. "A couple years back Prince Charles and Camilla married. Ah, have you herd about Camilla?" Mika scrunched her face slightly as if thinking hard before she replied,

"Yes…I'm pretty sure I heard that she was Prince Charles' lover."

"That's right. The story goes that they fell in love with each other at first sight, way before either one of them married. However, because of royal traditions, Prince Charles was forbidden to marry Camilla. But they say that whenever Charles had a problem he would always go to Camilla for advice. As the more controversy there was about Diana, the talks became more frequent. In the end, they got together.

Diana once said, 'Our marriage became complicated because there were three people involved.' The royal couples and Camilla's love triangle became very complicated. It was a long and agonizing relationship lasting for 30 years. But in the end, after 35 years of waiting, the person of tolerance—Camilla—successfully married Prince Charles. She finally found her love."

Satsuki sighed to herself as if imagining what it would be like to have to live those 35 years of waiting once she finished her story and sipped her now cold tea. On the other hand Mika remained silent.

'After 35 years…she found her love. Fuyuno Mika can't give up like that so easily. She doesn't suit him. Sasuke needs me by his side….I know it.'

-----

(Haruno Household, after the beginning scene)

'…I can't sleep. It's so uncomfortable to sleep straight. I feel all cramped up. And it's so hard going to bed while looking at a wall. But at the same time on the other side is Sasuke's back…' Sakura lamented to herself as she bite her blankets. 'But…this is so weird. Why don't I feel mad about this? And how can he be sleeping so comfortably on this small bed? Maybe if I…' Sakura gently laid her hands on Sasuke's back and scooted closer to him, cuddling her face on his back.

'Wait! What am I doing?' Sakura immediately shot up and slapped herself on the head. 'So I'm that type of person!? What shall I do? What if at night I suddenly grab him like a hungry lion…Maybe I should just sleep on the floor so something like that doesn't happen. No! I can't. If I do, then I'll be on the losing end. '

"Just go to bed….go to bed…go to bed…." Sakura muttered to herself as she fell back onto her bed. Slowly she felt her eyes beginning to become heavy as she snuggled closer to Sasuke and unconsciously grabbed the fabric of his shirt between her hands.

Meanwhile Sasuke, who unbeknownst to Sakura, had been awake for the whole time she was arguing with herself.

'That girl…She's hopeless.' In a rare moment, the corner of Sasuke's mouth slowly began to turn up as he watched Sakura snuggle closer to him. Suddenly, Sakura let out a loud snore and turned over, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand unconsciously. At that moment, Sasuke felt a curiously wet feeling on his back and reached over to feel his shirt. Much to his disbelief, he felt the unmistakable wetness of a certain girl's drool on his back.

'Ugh…this is going to be a long night.'

-----

(Sai's Apartment)

"You're still reading those books?" Satsuki asked as she walked into the small apartment she and Sai resided in. Sai was sitting on a chair reading a Harry Potter book, the rest of the books littered on the table before him. Picking up one of the books off of the table, Satsuki flipped the book over and sat next to Sai.

"She must be a witch." She suddenly said. At this comment, Sai looked at his mother with a questioning look.

"What do you mean mom?" He asked although not tearing his eyes off of the book.

"For someone who was divorced…in poverty to suddenly become one of the richest people in the world. Don't you agree, she must be a witch?" explained Satsuki as she set the book down. Silence was all that greeted her. Sighing, she stood up and hugged Sai gently from the back. She looked at the quiet night life through the window in front of them as the steady hum of the lamp rung in her ears.

"Although it's so busy during the day, Konoha is always so peaceful at night. What I want is this kind of peace. If it was possible for you to become King…I'd willingly make a deal with the Devil. Your forgotten father…the position you once held and is rightfully yours…I must bring them back. This is the reason why Yamamoto…no Uchiha Satsuki must keep on living."

-----

(Haruno Household)

'Need…water…' Sasuke gasped as he narrowly escaped the clutches of a not-so-still sleeping Sakura. Rubbing his eyes, Sasuke stumbled into the main part of the house and groped around in the darkness in an attempt to find the kitchen. After a painstaking ten minutes he had reached his goal and quenched his protesting throat.

Sasuke let out a sigh of relief as he backtracked his way to Sakura's room but stopped when he saw light coming through the bottom of the main bedroom door. Although snooping and eavesdropping were beneath him, after all he _is _the crown Prince, Sasuke couldn't resist opening the door a crack and listening to the mutterings of the Haruno household, who much to his surprise was still not asleep before going back to Sakura's room to sleep.

"Maybe we should go check up on them to see if they need anything." The muffled yet clear voice of Keito suggested. "Give them some drinks or something. You know Sakura always gets thirsty in the middle of the night."

"What? But they're most likely already asleep by now." Atsumi reasoned and pulled the covers over her head.

"Still. You know Sakura. Bring them some juice. She loves orange juice." Keito persisted, shaking the bundled up form of his wife. Atsumi let out a sound of annoyance and sat up, glaring at Keito.

"If you're so worried, then bring them juice yourself. You're capable of doing such a thing, I'm sure." After another couple minutes of arguing, Atsumi finally gave up and walked to the kitchen to pour two cups of juice. With an eager Keito following behind her, she opened the door of the dark room and entered. After setting down the tray she turned around and what she saw made her eyes bulge out. Sleeping together on the small single bed was Sasuke, looking as nonchalant as ever, with Sakura wrapped around him, snuggling her face into his chest. Immediately Keito turned on the lights.

"What is this!?" He asked, his voice cracking slightly.

"Ngh…turn off the lights." A sleepy Sakura replied as she rubbed her groggy eyes. Blinking to let her eyes adjust to the sudden light, she was totally unprepared for what was to happen next. Sakura realized much to her dismay that she was hugging something very soft…and warm…this was definitely not her pillow! I mean, come on, it even was moving—there had to be something wrong here. Snapping her head up, Sakura looked up into the amused face of Sasuke which was only a couple centimeters away from her own. Looking down again at her limbs which were tightly wrapped around the boy's body, Sakura looked back at her parents who were staring at the two of them in shock.

"AHHHHHHH!!!"

-----

(Morning, Day 2)

"Good morning," Sakura yawned as she walked out of her bedroom. It had been a long night to put it simply. After the…fiasco last night, Sakura was forced to sleep on the floor. And so after a rather awkward breakfast, Sakura had been recruited to do the dishes as her parents and Shouta cleaned the rest of the room. Sasuke had been un-included from the chores and as retribution for last night, Sakura decided to make him help her with the dishes.

"Yah, Chicken head. Instead of standing there doing nothing, help me with the dishes." Sakura said as she pulled Sasuke over to the twin sinks, placing him in front of the one contained a pile of dirty dishes. "You clean and I'll rinse, okay?"

And so, surprisingly without any complaints, Sasuke began to awkwardly clean the dishes. However, washing dishes is just not something you learn at the royal palace, Sakura learned the hard way. Much to Sakura's amusement, the moment she received dishes from Sasuke to rinse, she spotted a problem.

"Chicken Head, you left a spot here. And these are still greasy! What in the world are you doing?" She asked as she leaned over to inspect him cleaning the dishes. Barely containing a laugh, she watched as Sasuke attempted to clean the dishes with his bare hands and water, ignoring the sponge and soap clearly in his view. "Honestly, you learn nothing at the Palace do you?" Sakura sighed and switched places with him. "Here, first you take the sponge," she held up the brightly colored sponge and poured some liquid dishwashing soap on it, "Then pour on the soap, lather it up, and clean. Here you go." Satisfied that he was well equipped Sakura handed him the sponge. All was going smoothly after that until they were forced to wipe the dishes and put them away.

"What's this?" Sasuke asked curiously as he held up a spatula. "It looks like a weapon." Emphasizing his point, he took the spatula and hit Sakura over the head with it.

"Sasuke!!" Sakura screamed, upset. Looking at the smiling Prince, a plan began forming in her mind. Taking the faucet, she turned on the water and pulled in out, spraying Sasuke with water. He retaliated by taking a pot to cover himself with and once it had filled with water, dumping it on the unsuspecting Sakura. They would have made a larger mess, much to Atsumi's displeasure, if the ringing of the doorbell had not stopped them. Wiping herself with a towel, Sakura opened the front door to be met with the surprising sight of Kakashi.

"Kakashi-san…" Sakura said, clearly confused. Sasuke, who was standing behind Sakura, looked just as confused. Remembering her manners, she let Kakashi in, but was stopped when he put a hand on her arm.

"Crown Princess…thank you for your hospitality, but it is not necessary at the moment." He then turned to Sasuke and looked at him meaningfully. "Prince, the King has fallen ill."

-----

Immediately, Sakura and Sasuke were recalled to the Palace. To Sakura, she had never seen a time when the Palace was in such a frantic uproar. It seemed that after such a long time, the terminal illness that the King had tried so hard to fight had struck again. However, in order to not let it be revealed to the public, Sasuke and the Queen as well as Yoshino-sama had taken control of the issues. Because of this, Sasuke was sent to Kiri no Kuni in order to replace the King in the yearly visit to ensure the peace between the two nations. And so, let the story continue.

-----

(Kiri no Kuni)

Gaudy. That was one of the many words that Sasuke could come up with that described Kiri no Kuni. Gaudy. Gaudy and frivolous. Very frivolous. How in the world did Sai and his mom live here for ten-some years? Sai and his mysterious, no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point, simple, ways? Oh well, this wasn't a huge concern of Sasuke's right now. What was, however, was the oh so familiar feeling of annoyance beginning to surface. If he had to attend one more gaudy dance performance, one more frivolous dinner, one more stupid, good-for-nothing, not even entertaining event with the Royal Family of Kiri no Kuni, Sasuke swore he was going to shoot something.

It was in this time of Sasuke's utter annoyance did the much un-welcomed noise of his cell phone cut through the moment of peace and silence Sasuke so dearly treasured. If it was Sakura, Sasuke would fly all the way back to Konoha just to burn her. God, that girl could be annoying. She called him every ten minutes, wondering if he was okay. Sure, maybe at first, Sasuke was a little touched…only a little, mind you! But, after the 100th call, yes he had been counting, he was ready to burn her alive. Although he had to admit it, he had grown to become rather fond of the bumbling fool of a wife he had…not that he would ever say that aloud. She might be loud, annoying, too emotional, and not very pretty, but he couldn't deny that she was the most pure and sincere person he had met. And somehow she found a way to wiggle herself into his heart. But only into the back most corner.

Finally, Sasuke decided that maybe he ought to pick up his cell phone. Once, couldn't hurt right. I mean, even the so-called Ice Prince could tarnish his reputation just a teensy bit for the girl he had unwittingly become somewhat fond of. So on the fifth ring, Sasuke picked up his phone. But nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.

"So you finally picked up." An all too familiar voice said. "I was wondering if I would be standing outside your hotel window all day long." At this, Sasuke whipped around and opened the closed curtains of his window to see the smiling face of a certain Fuyuno Mika.

"Mika…" was all Sasuke was able to mutter, his brain currently in an overload crisis. He flipped his phone shut and ran out of the hotel to where Mika was standing. "You can't be here." He finally said after a long moment of silence. "You have to go back," He started to say before Mika cut him off.

"Sasuke, let's spend the day together and forget about everything and everyone around us." She suddenly blurted out. When Sasuke hesitated, she continued. "If not, I'll just stay put here." To emphasize her point, Mika walked over to a bench and sat on it.

"This isn't like you." Sasuke said as he walked up to Mika. What he received was a piercing glare.

"Not like me? What are you saying about me? Then what is me?" Mika asked, nearly screamed, as she stood up to look Sasuke in the eye. Sasuke was at a loss for words. Sighing, he sat down on the bench.

"Mika…you know the current situation I'm in right now."

"I know. I know it better than anyone else." Mika replied as she sat down next to Sasuke. "That was why we were dating secretly for two years. It was a relationship where even if I said 'I love you' a thousand times, it wouldn't have mattered. It was a relationship where just one 'let's breakup' could end it. Is this love?" Sasuke remained quiet as tears began to well up into Mika's eyes. "Yes, it is. I'm nothing to you now, and I know it."

"What's wrong with you?" Sasuke abruptly asked, grabbing the hand Mika was about to use to wipe her tears away. Mika jerked her arm away from him and stared at Sasuke with tear-filled eyes.

"You don't know? We are no longer together, but still there is news about you everywhere I go. Who you saw, what you wore, what you did. Even when I cover my ears and close my eyes, I can still know all the details about what you did, without wanting to. I see you in the newspapers, on TV—it's driving me crazy! Now I am just an outsider with a commoner's view into your life. Can't you understand how I feel? And you say this isn't me? So what should I do to be like me? How should I be like me?"

Finally, unable to control it anymore, Mika let the unshed tears flow freely down her face. Covering her face with her hands she began to sob. Sasuke, feeling a pang of regret and pain, reached up to wipe the numerous tears from her face, but Mika slapped his hand away.

"Don't. I…never once felt like I was your girlfriend." She said as she wiped the tears away.

"Mika…"

"Enough. I'm fine. Leave. I will leave now too." As she said this, Mika grabbed the large bag she had been carrying and began to walk away, still wiping the tears from her face. But, before she could go too far, a hand grabbed her wrist. Sasuke slowly got to his feet and tugged the bag Mika was carrying from her hands. He attempted to drag Mika somewhere, but she defiantly refused. When he tugged on her harder, she found herself reluctantly being dragged off by Sasuke.

"Shouldn't you go back? I'm sure Kakashi-san and the others are looking for you." Mika whispered softly as Sasuke but her bag in the trunk of a cab and asked the driver to take them to the airport.

"It doesn't matter. I don't have to be somewhere until seven, I have plenty of time to take you to the airport." Sasuke replied. Nothing except the quiet hum of the motor and the muted shouts of the street outside was heard, until a very noisy motorcycle pulled up beside them. A faint look of annoyance crossed Sasuke's face as he leaned forward. "Go faster." He ordered the cab driver.

"Who are they?" Mika asked, referring to the men riding the motorcycles, equipped with cameras. Sasuke held his hands up near his face in an attempt to cover it as he told Mika,

"The paparazzi."

-----

"Thank you very much." Mika told the cab driver as she pressed money into his hands and ran into the airport with Sasuke as fast as she could. After that ride, she felt as if her lunch was about to come back up. Those paparazzi members sure were persistent! Even after going way above the speed limit, it there was a speed limit, cutting through dark alleyways, running several red lights, and much more, they still weren't able to get rid of those pests. So unfortunately, the first cab driver had to let them off at some market. After hours of running through the colorful market place and pretending to be tourists, Mika and Sasuke were finally able to safely make it to the airport.

"Up to here is fine." She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "Even though you never acted like a boyfriend in the past, I appreciate what you did for me today. It really makes up for everything, just knowing you care after all." At this Sasuke couldn't help but smile some.

"Thank you. For everything. I'll never forget the times we spent together. But now…it's time for me to go back. Goodbye…Prince." And before she turned to leave, Mika leaned up to kiss Sasuke.

click But unbeknownst to the pair of them, two men were lurking in the shadows of the pillar, taking photos of the compromising scene they were witnessing right now. After Mika had departed, one of them took out his cell phone to call someone.

"Hey boss, it's me. We got them."

-----

Hey, Tenten here! Geez, something seems to be wrong with Sakura ever since Sasuke went to Kiri no Kuni. But have no fear, for Hina-Ten-Ino is here to cheer her up! But say, she's been spending a lot of time with that Yamamoto Sai kid. I heard he's always there to comfort her—how sweet! It's almost like a story from a romance novel!

Next time, Chapter 9: Secrets

"If fate hadn't been playing with us…your husband wouldn't have been Sasuke, but me, Sai."

-Yamamoto Sai

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Unmei: Wow…It's been so long since I've last updated. I'M SO SORRY!!! bows repeatedly I do have great excuses for why I didn't update but I'm sure none of you want to hear me ranting about my wonderful adventures at the wonderful world called school, tests, projects, and finals plus viola, driving school and uh… drama watching?

Anyways, anyways, enough babbling from me. Since it's summer, I hope I can get at least 2 more chapters done, 3 if I work reallllllyyyyy hard. And as always, I have to thank my wonderful reviewers who have always been so faithful to me despite my horrible updating schedule.

sasusakux3: Aww…poor Mika, everyone's picking on her. But I guess that's good…? After all, I'm making a believable bad character, yay! ...I think. Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing!! I hope you'll continue to read, review, and enjoy my fic.

TenTenXIrista: I can't decide whether you like or disliked the fluff do to the "argh" at the end of your review….but since there were exclamation points I think I'll arbitrarily decide that you like them. Thanks so much for reviewing, it really encourages me to keep on writing!!

Diana-san: Haha, I know, I loved that part in Goong when she finds out that the cd-player is empty. I watched that scene a million times. Sorry I really didn't update soon….at all. But hopefully this chapter was worth the wait. Hope you continue reading and reviewing and thanks so much for the review!

baby's breath: I'm glad you really enjoyed my last chapter. It took me a long time to come up with…so I hope you like this one too because sadly it me even longer to write….Well, thanks for always, always reviewing! You're reviews are always so nice to read, they really make me feel happy and accomplished. Hope you continue to read and review and of course enjoy my fic. Thanks once again!

petite.ina: Albeit short, I'm so glad you reviewed. I love new reviewers! Once again, thanks for reviewing and please continue to read and enjoy my fic.

sasusakufaves: Once again, sorry I didn't update very soon. Hope you liked this chapter, seeing how all of you had to wait for such a long time for me to update. I hope that despite my bad updating habit, you'll continue to read my fic and hopefully reviewing!

Norah: Yes, another new reviewer! I love this!! Thanks so very much for the review. I love reading such nice reviews—they make me feel so energized to write the next chapter…that is until I have to go study for a test of course. Hope you continue to read and review and most importantly enjoy my fic!

Sakura Angel 4eva: Haha, like so many other people, I see you don't the character of Mika. I hate to write someone so…conniving but I would feel really bad if I made her super nice and yet she had a sad ending in the story. Also, I'm trying to stick to the original plot of Goong so I guess it can't be helped. Hopefully her character won't deter you from reading my story. Thanks for the review!!

sallyluv16: Once again, sorry I didn't update very soon. I'm glad you think my fic is getting interesting; I'm really trying to make it more mm…dynamic! Hopefully it isn't too static and boring—that's something I'm constantly worried about when I'm writing. Thanks so much for your review!

silverdragon994: I have to say thanks to you a million times for always reviewing—I'm so grateful. I'm glad you enjoyed the hinting of other pairings I tried to incorporate in the last chapter. Sorry I wasn't able to put any in this one, but I'll try to continue to put in more NejiTen, etc. when I'm able to. Thanks once again for always reviewing!!

waterkunoichi: Or else…I don't want to know what that means since I didn't update very soon. I think I might need to lock all the doors in our house now… . Anyways, thanks so much for revewing. I filled with so much bubbly happiness when I read your review—I love such positive reviews. Once again thank you so very very much!!

Yucina101: I feel so bad that everyone wants me to update soon yet I was unable to. So, as I mentioned with everyone else, I'm VERRRYYYYY sorry I didn't update soon. But, putting that aside, I'm glad you thought that last chapter was excellent. Hopefully this one was just as good, if not better. Thanks so much for reviewing!

EYHO187: Haha, I guess I really did take my time after all, didn't I? I'm glad you liked my story up to the last chapter, hopefully you still like it after reading this chapter. Thanks so much for reviewing and I hope you continue to read, review (hint hint), and of course, as always, enjoy my writing!!

SheSays: I agree with you, Yul was one of my favorite characters too. It's too bad he had to be the second guy character and couldn't end up with Chae-Gyeong. Ah, but that's dramas. At least one guy and girl always have to suffer at the expense of the happiness of the main characters. Anyways, getting off that tangent, thank you so much for reviewing!!

bobalina: It did sound "painfully" cliché, didn't it? I guess after awhile I got lazy, but if you've seen the drama, this is pretty much along the lines of what the main character Chae-Geyong says. I know I shouldn't be so bounded by the drama and try to expand off of it and put in my own personal touches, but at the same time, I want to the preserve most of the integrity of the drama. So I'm sorry it sounded so cliché, I'll try not to make the rest of the story so bland and venture out to make it more original. Thanks for your warning—I don't get those too often but I guess they're helpful as well—and thanks for reviewing!

Dark MiMi-Ayumi: Thanks for reviewing once again!! I'm so glad that there are quite a handful of people who are continuously reviewing. It reassures me that people are continuing to read my story and don't just read some of it and get bored after the next chapter. So, as always, thanks so very much for reviewing and I hope you continue to read and enjoy this fic!

sharinganuser21: Another Mika-hater I see? I hope I don't get too many of those. While it's true that I am making Mika more of the typical "bad-guy" figure, I don't exactly want her to come off as being hard-core villainous, because she's not. Think of her as more…misguided and blinded by her love turned obsession of Sasuke. I guess I really should try to revise her character some to make her seem not as extremely horrible as she does right now. Anyways, thank you so much for reviewing! I hope you continue to read despite your deep hatred for one of the characters.

MM-Kokopelli: Haha, another fangirl of Goong? There's so many of those, but it is a good drama, isn't it? If you like Goong you should also try Full House if you haven't seen it or Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang because they're a little bit similar in the sense that the main characters are drawn together in marriage but not initially because they love one another. Also the Taiwanese drama It Started with a Kiss is one of my favorites and Silence if you're able to deal with quite a bit of sadness and the Japanese drama Hana Yori Dango. Thanks for reviewing, and hopefully you'll continue to be a drama fan like I am!!

Kawaii-Sak-Bloom: Yep, Goong is very, very extremely good. If you read my post to MM-Kokopelli above, I gave her some drama suggestions. If you haven't seen those already, I suggest you look at them as well—they're some of my favorites. Well, that aside, thank you for reviewing. I'm so happy you think I'm doing a good job writing this fic—it really encourages me to keep on writing. So once again thanks and I hope you continue to enjoy my writing.

Dark Mint: Yay, another new reviewer. I'm glad that Princess Hours pops into your head when you read this fic—that means I've accomplished my goal. But hopefully you think that it's not all like Princess Hours because I've been trying to add some more personal touches into there, although they are quite limited. Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing and I hope to hear your comments again!

Unmei: Phew, that was a boatful of reviews, not that I'm complaining. I'm so glad so many people are enjoying my writing. So for everyone out there who read my story but didn't review, I hope you continue to enjoy my writing as well, and reviews would be much appreciated. I'll really try this time for everyone to update faster, but I can't guarantee anything, but I really will try had since it's summer. So, thanks once again to everyone!!!


	9. Secrets

Unmei: Hmm…I'm thinking about editing my first couple of chapters because as RoMaNTiCiLLuSioNS mentioned in her review, for the first couple chapters I practically did just copy the subs word for word and just replaced the names of the characters and places. However, I have tried recently to be more original and not just copy everything word for word and have put more thought into it…so I hope everyone still likes it.

Disclaimer: Yeah…I'm pretty tired of writing this, but just so I don't get sued, I don't own Naruto, Goong, or anything else like that. So, let's get on with the story!!

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Princess Hours

Chapter 9: Secrets

Unmei no Hana

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(Konoha High School)

Ring…ring…ring…

"Come on, pick up your phone, pick it up chicken head."

'The phone you are currently trying to call is turned off, please leave a message—'

"Still? What could he be doing…?" A dejected Sakura slid down and sat on the top of the toilet. "Honestly, he hasn't returned any of my calls. What kind of attitude towards your wife is this?"

It had been a week since Sasuke had left for Kiri no Kuni and over three days since Sakura was last able to get in touch with him. Despite the Queen's objections, Sakura insisted on going to school more those following days, saying that if she didn't go, her skills would become rusty and all her hard work would have been for nothing. Most everyone took this explanation without further complain, although those near her could tell it was just an excuse.

"Once more…maybe he'll pick up this time." Sakura began to punch in the number of Sasuke's hotel number when the sudden banging of the bathroom door startled her.

"Jeez, what's the Crown Princess doing here on a Sunday?" A loud girl's voice sneered. Holding her breath, Sakura peered out of the tiny crack in the bathroom stall to see three girls, all of them of whom she didn't recognize, fixing their hair in a mirror.

"I thought she was to high and mighty for this dinky school now that she became a so-called national figurehead. She barely comes here anymore." The girl with light brown hair in braids added.

"I heard that most of her classmates despise her now," piped the last girl with short blond hair and a headband.

"Whatever, we shouldn't bother in the business of the Royals. It's not like their anything more than a figurehead, that's what my papa says, and he's a palace guard—they hear all the good gossip you know. It's really pathetic, if you think about it. They think they're all important and everything but they don't even realize how unwanted by society they are. Papa says that the Royal family agreed to this marriage because they thought that if a commoner marries into the family, they'll be better received by the public. Tch, looks like that plan backfired." The first girl, a pretty girl with long wavy black hair and obviously the leader of the group, scoffed again.

"Speaking of the Royals, whatever happened to Prince Itachi?" Suddenly the headband girl asked.

'Prince…Itachi?' Sakura thought to herself, scrunching her forehead in deep thought. She vaguely remembered that name. However she couldn't quite place her finger on it. Where had she heard that name before?

"Shh!" The first girl suddenly said and looked around cautiously. "Don't ever mention that name! Papa said that the King himself ordered all the police to arrest everyone and anyone who mentions that name. I don't want you to get in trouble so don't bring that name up again. Even to me Papa doesn't say much about Prince Itachi." Shifting from one foot to another uneasily, the girl looked around again as if making sure no one had listened to their conversation before continuing.

"All I can say is that contrary to what most reports say, Prince Itachi didn't get abducted, but he actually _left_. Now, let's leave. This topic's gotten too far off course. We'll miss our next class too." And with that the three girls scurried out of the bathroom talking about innocent subjects such as boys and school, leaving Sakura alone in her bathroom stall, totally confused about the information she had just heard.

'Prince…Itachi? Is he somehow connected to Sasuke and the King? There's still many mysteries about the Royal family that I don't know, isn't there…' Sakura slowly unlatched the lock to the bathroom stall and walked out of the bathroom slowly, still clutching onto her cell phone from which dangled a small charm she received from Sasuke when they got married. Ignoring the usual whisperings and stares, Sakura slowly walked back to her classroom to retrieve her bento box. She walked out onto the roof to eat her lunch when she was startled to find that someone was already there.

"Oh, Sai-kun, you're here to eat lunch to? Mind if I join you?" Sai looked up from the book he was reading and met Sakura with a look of pure shock. However, it was only for a brief second before he quickly replaced it with his typical smile.

"Ah, Sakura, go ahead." Scooting over to one side of the bench, Sai made room for Sakura to sit down before continuing to read his book. From the corner of his eye, Sai noticed Sakura's somewhat troubled face as she sighed heavily and leaned back.

"Still can't get in touch with him?" He asked without taking his eyes of the book. Glumly, Sakura nodded.

"Don't think too much about it Sakura, that's just how Sasuke is. I'm surprised he's shown this much affection to you, it really isn't like him. Take my advice and don't get your hopes up. Sooner or later Sasuke will get bored of you and return his attention to his former girlfriend." Sakura turned her head sharply to look at Sai and drew in a quick breath, clearly stunned at what Sai had said. Closing his book, Sai put on another one of his unreadable smiles and turned to face Sakura.

"Sorry, did what I say upset you? I didn't mean it that way. After all you should know already what Sasuke is like. You are his wife, whether by choice or not." Sakura's face softened as a sad smile began to slowly appear.

"You're right. Sasuke is like that isn't he, Sai-kun? He and Fuyuno-san have so much in common and it seems like she knows so much more about him, anyone can see that. I guess it's inevitable that Sasuke will return to her one day. But to tell you the truth Sai-kun, I really hope that doesn't happen."

"Why not Sakura?" Sai asked, cold dread beginning to spread as he anticipated the almost certain answer. "I thought you hated Sasuke since you're always complaining about him."

"Because…I've grown to love him. Even I'm surprised that it happened, but if I think about it, it makes sense. As you know, I'm quite a clingy person. When put into an environment I'm totally unfamiliar with, I tend to grow attached to anyone who shows me kindness. It was the same when I entered this school for rich kids, totally unaccustomed to such a lifestyle, and met Ino.

And because of this, even though it was in a peculiar way, I came to love Sasuke because he was there for me even when it didn't seem like it. It sounds funny to say, but if I had met you first, I probably would have fallen in love with you Sai-kun." Sakura said, fingering the small charm on her cell phone.

Sai leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. Although he knew it would happen, hearing it from Sakura shocked him. Did he really stand no chance against Sasuke? Would his cousin once again take away what little happiness he had found in the world? Life was so unfair to him. What had he done in his previous life to upset the gods so much? Sai honestly couldn't think of an answer. Sai was about to rant on further in his mind but Sakura's soft voice broke through his contemplations.

"Oh, by the way Sai, I was wondering if you've heard of a person called 'Prince Itachi'? It sounds familiar but I can't quite place my finger on it." Sakura asked, scrunching her forehead up again, a familiar habit of hers that Sai had gotten used to. Sai was momentarily taken aback by Sakura's question but nonetheless he answered,

"Itachi? Don't you know? He's Sasuke's older brother."

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace)

"Chicken head! Chicken head!" Sakura shouted as she raced through the halls. When Sakura had arrived home from a not-so-boring day of school, she had been informed, much to her delight, that Sasuke had at last returned home from Kiri no Kuni. Instantly forgetting all her misgivings towards the boy, Sakura ran to his room as fast as her traditional clothes would let her. She burst into Sasuke's enormous room only to find emptiness and silence greeting her.

'That's odd…but the Queen said he was in his room.' Sakura closed the door softly as she walked further into the heart of the room, wondering to herself where in the world Sasuke could be. It was when she entered his bed area that she noticed a door, tucked secretly behind a large column. The door was left slightly open and an eerie reddish colored light streamed through it. Curious as to what that door led to, Sakura walked over to the door and opened it up further and poked her head in.

'What is this place?' Sakura asked to herself as she walked in. From strings suspended from the ceiling hung numerous amounts of pictures. In the heart of this mess was Sasuke, dipping what looked like an ordinary sheet of paper into a pan of some kind of liquid.

"Sasuke-kun, there you are!" Sakura smiled and rushed over there to meet Sasuke. Sasuke on the other gave no reply to the girl and continued to stare intently at the paper. Sighing at Sasuke's predictable response, Sakura looked around the surroundings further. When she saw a crumpled piece of paper lying beside Sasuke, Sakura curiously picked it up and smoothed it out, reading the contents out loud.

"Dear Prince Sasuke, I hope you enjoyed your trip to Kiri no Kuni. Enclosed here are some films that I believe will interest you. Have a nice day and long live the king…what is this Sasuke?" Sakura asked, puzzled at the strange letter. Sasuke didn't reply but instead held up the piece of paper and hung it from a string. Sakura looked at it and saw an image slowly starting to appear. Fuzzy outlines of what looked like two people began to emerge, one a girl the other a boy. As it became clearer, Sakura could make out small details of each person. The boy seemed to have black hair that stuck up weirdly at the back, sort of like Sasuke's. The girl on the other hand had long brown colored hair and seemed to be leaning up to give the boy a kiss.

"What photo is this Sasuke?" Sakura questioned, looking at Sasuke's troubled face. She opened her mouth to say more when Sasuke shoved her away. "Ouch, what was that for Sasuke? Some way to treat your wife!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke yelled, eyes bulging. "Go away. I don't want to see you!" He gave Sakura another shove, much to her indignation, and pushed her out of the room, slamming the door behind her loudly. Sakura tried to open the door, but found out much to her anger that Sasuke had locked it. Pounding on the door, Sakura screamed,

"I hate you too chicken head! I hope you had a horrible time in wet, dreary Kiri no Kuni!!" What with that Sakura turned away and stomped her way to her room. When she got there she slammed the door behind her and buried herself in the pillows and blankets of her large bed. Silent tears steamed down her face as she punched a random pillow.

"Why is he always like this? Could he really think of me as nothing more than just a toy like Sai said?" Knowing she would get no answer to her questions, Sakura just buried her head into the pillows as she tried to calm herself down.

-----

(Yamamoto Yoga Clinic)

"Ah, so you delivered the film to him? Yes…very good. No, no, just wait for now. Our prince will be very cautious now that he knows someone is watching him very carefully. However he can't do anything or else he would have to risk having this story leak out to the press. We've got him cornered so just wait patiently until the time is right. When it is, I'll call you again to release those pictures to the press. We'll see if Sasuke has thought up of a counter plan. If he hasn't, then for sure he isn't fit to be the King. Right, I'll call you again. Bye." Satsuki's mouth turned up in a small smile as she snapped her phone shut and stored it in the top drawer of her desk.

"Yes, Crown Prince Uchiha Sasuke…my dear nephew. You aren't fit to be the King. That place is for Sai…and only Sai. Your place is beside him, helping him, not against him." Gazing at an old crinkled photo on top of her desk, Satsuki felt the crystalline liquid crawl its way down her face.

"It's been so long since I've last seen your smiling face…" She whispered, stroking the man in the photo's face lovingly. "Soon…soon…Hi no Kuni will have the peace you so longed for it. I promise you, I will never rest in peace until I assure this. Rest in peace dear…and wait for me to join you."

----

(Hi no Kuni Palace)

Sakura walked through the Palace compound as she rubbed her red hands after another boring lesson of palace etiquette in which she received many slaps to her hand from Tsunade. Damn that ruler she always carried… Sakura hated it a passion. Sure it may have been her fault for falling asleep and drooling on the paper, but hey, what do you expect? That class way boring as hell.

"What a second…where am I?" Sakura suddenly paused and looked around her surroundings. She was still in the Palace compound, that was for sure, but where exactly, Sakura wasn't sure. An old wooden building which looked like a temple of some sorts stood before her, its wood once painted a vibrant red was fading and signs of aging were evident. Sakura could tell this was once an extravagant temple however it was hard to tell after all these years of neglect.

"Dinner's at seven and it's…four right now. I should have time to explore," concluded Sakura as she started to walk into the deserted building. Her footsteps echoed eerily in the vastness of the temple and the footboards creaked loudly with each step. Spotting the alter, Sakura walked up to it and knelt down. On it was a dusty cloth, as Sakura expected, but on top of that cloth was a vase of fresh flowers and an old photograph of a man wearing the traditional clothes of the king.

Sakura's breathed hitched as she heard footsteps climbing up the stairs to the temple. Hiding behind a massive pillar, she buried her head into her knees and prayed that whoever it was wouldn't notice her. However, the footsteps grew louder and soon Sakura could see the shadowy outline approaching the alter.

"Masao…it's Satsuki." Sakura peered through her hair to see a woman in her mid-forties kneeling beside the alter. She had picked up the picture and was talking to it. "Our child…Sai…I promise to you that I will reclaim his rightful position as King once again.

But what should I do about Sasuke and that girl? Masao, it's been so hard without you here with me. I don't know what to do…I don't know what's right and wrong now. I want to make them pay for hurting us so much and for taking away what rightfully belonged to our child. But is really okay to make innocent people suffer for the mistake of the elders?" The woman, Satsuki, sighed and got up. She dusted around the alter a bit before leaving the temple. When Sakura was sure that the woman had left she too got up.

'Was that Sai's mother? But what did she mean, that the elders took away something that was rightfully Sai's? I thought Sai was just a normal prince, a relative of the main branch.' Sakura wondered as she walked out of the temple and walked up the path, hoping it would take to her a more familiar place. Much to Sakura's great relief, the path led to a very familiar fountain. Sitting on the bench in front of it, Sakura brought her feet up and hugged them. She would have pondered more about the enormous amount of strange information she heard today but obviously the gods had a different plan. Sakura looked up when a shadow blocked the sunlight and instantly frowned.

"Sakura." Was all Sasuke muttered as he sat down beside the girl.

"What do you want?" Sakura asked bitterly. "Here to make fun of me or yell at me again? If you are then you can just leave, I'm not in the mood for either of them." Glaring angrily she turned her head away from Sasuke and tucked it underneath her arms. For awhile there was a heavy silence and all Sakura could hear was the trickling of the fountain. But then, softly, very softly, Sasuke spoke.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." Instantly Sakura whipped her head up to look at Sasuke.

"You're what?" She asked, not believing that she heard what she thought.

"I said, I'm sorry Sakura." Sasuke repeated.

"No you're not." Sakura instantly replied. "I don't believe you're actually sorry." After she said that, Sakura got up and began walking back to the palace.

'This girl…does she know how much pride it took me to say those three words?' Sasuke angrily thought as he got up too and caught Sakura's arm to prevent her from walking away.

"Let. Me. Go." Sakura muttered through clenched teeth. She tried to yank her arm away from Sasuke but he was too strong for her.

"No. Not until you believe me." Sasuke replied. "Tell me why you don't believe me."

"Why? You want to know why I don't believe you're actually sorry?!" Sakura yelled, unwanted tears starting to make their way down her face. "How am I supposed to believe anything you say when you don't tell me anything at all. You're sorry? Ha, don't make me laugh. If you were actually sorry you wouldn't repeatedly yell at me when you know it hurts me. You never stop to think how I feel. You're horrible Sasuke, you know that. You're horrible!" Yanking her hand away from a stunned Sasuke, Sakura began to run towards the palace again. However she didn't get much farther this time. A strong pair of arms wrapped themselves around Sakura's mid-torso and Sasuke leaned his head down next to Sakura's.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I really am. You may not believe me but I am." Sasuke whispered into Sakura's ear. "I don't mean to hurt you when I yell and I do think about you. I'm no good at communicating with people, even my own friends. So just…just believe me."

"I don't have a choice do I?" Sakura asked pointedly. When Sasuke nodded Sakura sighed and relaxed. It was then that she realized the compromising position they were in. Sasuke's arms wrapped tightly around her and his head resting beside her own, turned to face hers. Definitely compromising. Sakura instantly turned a bright shade of red.

"I…I…uh…I need to study for a test. Yes, a test. A test. I'll see you later Sasuke." Sakura stuttered as she pried herself away from Sasuke and ran towards the palace, leaving Sasuke to stand there dumbly by himself. Smirking a little at the girl's antics, Sasuke walked back to his own room. Sitting in his desk chair, Sasuke opened the last drawer and took out a box. Opening it up, he took out a necklace that had a locket hanging from it. Opening it up, he stared at the face of a smiling Fuyuno Mika.

"I don't think I've ever said sorry to you, have I? I never have said sorry to any girl, even the one I claimed to be my girlfriend until this girl, huh?"

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(Konoha High School)

"_I'm sorry, Sakura."_

'That was the first time he's ever said sorry to me.' Sakura blushed as she recalled the scenes from the day before.

"What's this? What's this?! Someone's blushing. Did something happen?" Ino giggled at Sakura's face which was growing even redder.

"No!" Sakura immediately replied. Hoping that Ino wouldn't ask anymore questions, Sakura decided to change the subject. "By the way where are Hinata and Tenten? I thought they're always here with you after school."

"Hinata and Tenten? They're on a double date." When Ino saw Sakura's stunned face, she explained further. "Well, actually at first it was just Hinata. You know that business major Naruto who Hinata had a crush on? Well apparently he asked her out on a date. I heard she fainted when he did. But anyways, she accepted of course. Then Neji found out about it, and being the super overprotecting cousin he is, said he wouldn't let Hinata go out on a date unless he was there to supervise. So then Neji asked Tenten and made it a double date so he could keep an eye out for Hinata. Which reminds me, I need to go ask Shikamaru something, so I'll see you tomorrow Sakura." Ino waved good-bye to Sakura as she exited the room.

"So much has changed. Everyone has something to do without me…" Sakura said sadly when Ino left.

"Feeling sad, Sakura?" A voice suddenly appeared behind Sakura.

"Sai-kun! I nearly fainted there with surprise. When did you come?" Sakura asked.

"Just now, when Ino was leaving. You seem in an awfully good mood compared to a couple days ago. Does it have anything to do with a certain prince Sasuke?"

"Of course not. I'm just glad to see all my friends again even though they're gone now. Oh, Sai, I think I saw your mom yesterday." To this Sai gave Sakura a confused look. "You see, I was in this old temple yesterday, I got kinda lost. But anyways when I was there, your mom came in and was talking to this picture. She's really pretty you know Sai."

"Oh, you saw her there? She's always going there. That's the Heiwa Temple. It was dedicated to my dad after he died." Sai explained.

"Heiwa…you mean peace? That's an odd name for a temple." Sakura commented.

"Isn't it? According to my mom, it was named so because peace was what my dad treasured the most in life. He wanted to bring peace to Hi no Kuni. Here." Sai produced a packet of onigiri from his bag and handed it to Sakura. "You didn't eat very much this lunch I noticed. Don't worry, you're already slimmed down Sakura, so you don't have to diet that much." Sitting down next to Sakura, Sai watched her devour the rice ball eagerly.

"You really think I have Sai? I'm glad. I've tried several diets including an egg diet, popcorn diet, juice diet. I guess one of those must've worked." Sakura ate the rest of her rice ball before turning to face Sai. "Thank Sai. You know you're always here for me. I feel selfish though, having a good friend like you who does all these things yet asks for nothing in return."

"Just because I do ask for anything, it doesn't mean that I ask for nothing in return." Sai replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked, clearly perplexed at Sai's reply.

"You know Sakura…even though I no longer am, I was once engaged to you."

"…what?"

"You know, everyone says that you're the third smartest in our department, yet I'm surprised you haven't figured it out already. I was also counting on your curiosity to research some things. But I guess I overestimated you this time." To this, Sakura let out a noise of indignation, which Sai ignored.

"I dropped you so many hints I thought. The first person you were engaged to was not Sasuke. He wasn't even the second one that was his older brother Prince Itachi. Sasuke is in fact the third person you were engaged to. The first person you were engaged to was me, Yamamoto Sai. However, this changed when my father died." Sai let the information sink into Sakura before he continued.

"I hope you remember this fact…even if it's impossible for it to come true now. If fate hadn't been playing with us…your husband wouldn't have been Sasuke, but me, Sai. This is the one thing I ask of you in return for all I've done for you."

-----

'He finally told her, huh?' Sasuke thought to himself as he walked away from the door to Sakura's classroom. He had been searching for Sakura to prove to her that he really did think about her. However, when he got to the classroom, he heard Sai and Sakura talking and decided to listen to what Sai had to say. Sasuke was about to turn a corner when two voices stopped him in his tracks.

"I feel that Fuyuno Mika is better. Although the Crown Princess has changed a lot for the better, she is still so far away from the standard of the royal family." A quiet female voice whispered to her companion.

"But it's game over now. Sakura and the Prince are married now. I don't think it's nice sticking herself in between the couple." A second voice whispered. "In fact, I heard that he Prince even proposed to her and she refused. She's the one who gave up the position in the first place. And look at her now, trying to get him back after she refused him. Isn't that too much? If it was me I would just give up regardless of the past."

"Really?" The first girl gasped.

"Think about it this way, it's true that she has the criteria for being the Crown Princess. I mean her family is incredibly wealthy and she seems to be all pure and noble. But in reality Fuyuno Mika is nothing but a pretender. It's really annoying. I hate people who think they're above us when in reality they're worse." Sasuke couldn't listen to anymore. He turned around and walked away.

Behind the another corner was Fuyuno Mika. Listening to the two girls talk, she felt a deep sadness washing over herself.

"That's right. Fuyuno Mika is nothing but a pretender. Just a pretender, that's all I am." She whispered to herself as she turned away. "Maybe…it's really time for me to give up and admit defeat."

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace, Sasuke's Room)

Sasuke slowly walked into his room and threw his school bag onto a chair. Looking around his room he spotted on his coffee table an open box and various items scattered about. Picking up one of the items, a photo of Fuyuno Mika, he sighed and placed it back into the box. Placing the other items in the box he walked into his dark room and looked at the pictures hanging from the string. Taking down every single one of Mika, he placed those into the box too and stored the box in the last drawer of his desk.

"Maybe it's really time for me to move on."

-----

(Konoha outskirts)

"So this is Konoha, huh, Itachi? Looks like a rather nice town. I think I'm going to enjoy my stay here." A man with sharp teeth and odd gray-ish colored man said to his companion. His companion, a man with long black hair and equally dark colored eyes remained quiet however.

"Let's go Kisame. We've got a long journey ahead of us." The man said stoically as he shifted the bag on his shoulders. Looking at the castle standing majestically over the city Itachi thought to himself,

'So little brother, do you remember what I told you all those years ago? Show me you've really grown up into a man that can be called a King.'

-----

It's Sakura again!! I thought I could handle all the new surprises royal life has to offer, but it seems like I still have so much more to learn. With the unexpected arrival of Sasuke's brother Itachi, the whole country is in a state of turmoil, especially Sasuke. What really happened to him on that mysterious day 15 years ago? No one will tell me—not even Yoshino-sama and she tells me everything! Who is this enigmatic man whom Sasuke calls 'aniki'? I'll just have to find out in the next chapter!!

Next time, Chapter 10: Aniki

"That bastard, I swear I'll kill him the next time I see him."

-Crown Prince Uchiha Sasuke

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Unmei: Well….lame ending. I kinda uhh…just made that up. You know, I actually don't know what Itachi's going to do per say, I just thought it would add an interesting twist to have him in here. Now I don't know exactly what do with him. Go brilliant me…..Ugh, this sucks.

Anyways, as always, if anyone has suggestions please tell me, I'd love to hear them. And thanks to all my wonderful reviewers, I love you guys so much.

CherryBlossoms016: Hopefully this chapter answered some of your questions. I know it's quite…subtle but I am trying to make Sasuke's and Sakura's relationship come out more. Thank you so much for reviewing and I hope you continue to read!!

PaPeR-sTaRs52, Sweet-Tradgidie: Hopefully this was soon enough for you—I did try to write this at record speed although it still took me a couple weeks to finish, but hey that's better than a couple months right? Hopefully I can write more this summer and thanks so much for reviewing!

sharinganuser21: Aww, poor Mika, don't burn her to death. She's not that bad just…misguided. Yes think of it as misguided. I'm glad you think my story is that awesome. To tell the truth I don't think it's all that great. Okay, yes, but great, no. But, your review is such a confidence booster. Thanks so much for reviewing, love you!!

everlastingxwish: Yes, I love Goong! I haven't watched the "Goong, season S" but I heard it wasn't good at all so that's why I didn't even bother watching it. Hopefully they'll make a true season 2 like some of the rumors say. I'm glad you think I have some originality in my story, I was kinda crushed after this one review….Anyways, thanks so much for reviewing!! Hope you keep on reading

baby's breath: WOAAHHHH, what a long review!! To answer your question, I'm pretty sure that the Charles, Diana, Camilla love triangle is true but not absolutely completely sure—I just copied it from the drama pretty much. Sorry about the whole Mika thing, maybe I shouldn't have put that at the end….but I'm glad you liked the fluff I put in as well. Thanks so much for reviewing always, hope this update was fast enough!!

iyashi kaze: Another Mika hater? Gosh, I need to stop making more of those. Thanks for sparing me your rant, although it might have been funny to listen to. Thanks for updating always, it really encourages me to keep on writing. Thanks again!!

Dark Mint: Yes, exactly! Where's the excitement if they're aren't any controversial scenes. I mean everyone loves controversy…sort of. But, this is based off of a drama where's there always like…boom, conflict! I'm glad you understand…it gets kinda tiring after awhile when everyone's like arghh, only SasuSaku. But when I read some fics I'm like I'm drowning of too much SasuSaku fluffiness. Haha, but that's just me, I know some people live for it. Anyways, I ranted too much. Thanks so much for reviewing again. Hope you keep on enjoying my story!!

waterkunoichi: Chinese…water…torture!? WAHHH, someone save me!! Just kidding. I'm so happy you think my story's that amazing. I hope your impatient-ness is somewhat uhh…quelled? I did try really hard to update sooner. Thanks so much for your reviews always (they give me much amusement) and I hope you continue to find my fic that funny…I do try to put some humor into it even though my sense of humor is quite…nonexistent.

Re1010: Yep, I loved Full House. In fact it was the first drama I watched. Though I think the second guy (forgot his name…) was better looking than Rain. Rain's just too girly looking for my taste. Before I start talking too much about dramas, thanks so much for you review!! Hope you keep on reading.

kamaya: Sorry I was unable to answer your question since I didn't have your e-mail or anything. Hopefully this was soon enough for you. Thanks so much for your review and hopefully you'll continue to read and enjoy my fic!

MoonKitty136: Haha, finally someone noticed what a genius I am! Unfortunately I'm really not one. Sob. But it's okay since people who are too smart can get kinda….wacky and out of touch with reality. Thank you so much for reviewing and it really cheered me up when you reviewed since the one I got before was discouraging. Thanks once again!

missyserena214: I'm not quite sure what to say to this one but…thanks for reviewing! I hope this chapter made that "uh-oh" go to "yay!!"

Unmei: Well, thanks to everyone for reading my fic, even if you didn't review. I think just another like…4 or so chapters and I'll be done, but we'll have to see. Since I can't find Goong anywhere now I just have to rely purely on my memory of….a couple years. Ugh, I don't remember anything that happened except like… Chae-Kyung and Shin are like yay, we love each other and Yul is like ughh, why doesn't she love me? I'm emo. Eheh…maybe not quite like that, but you know what I mean. I'll try my hardest to make this story still good even though I don't' remember anything that happened….Well this will be good for my originality I guess.

I still have a little more than a month of summer left so I'll try to get at least one more chapter in. So, everyone, this Unmei no Hana bringing you Princess Hours. Just wait another month for another chapter and I'll try not to disappoint you!!


	10. Aniki

Unmei: So…I guess I wasn't able to finish this before I went on my vacation after all…but I was able to finish it before school started, yay me! Uh so yeah, school, ugh…junior year, even more ugh. Yeah, junior year, SAT, sorry but I'm predicting that this year for me is going to be even busier than last year. The result? Well, unfortunately but I may have some periods of time where I don't write very often so that means updates like…at most every two months, if not longer. I'll really try hard to write, but this year I know will be very busy for me so I hope all of you faithful readers will have patience and understand the situation I'm in. Thank so much!!

Disclaimer: Yeah…well I would love to own Goong so that it'll be easier to find online but I don't. Don't own Naruto either…poo.

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Princess Hours

Chapter 10: Aniki

Unmei no Hana

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(Konoha High school)

"Dammit, where is that chicken-headed idiot?" Sakura griped as she stood in the front entrance of Konoha High waiting for Sasuke. Of all the wet, miserable days he chose to be late, why today? There was nothing more Sakura wanted to do than go home, soak in a warm tub of water, eat cake and watch her favorite drama.

'Tch, as if I could do those things with Mrs. You-Must-Learn-"Proper"-Etiquette-Because-I-Said-So determined to make me study until my eyes fall out.' Sakura let out another sigh and stared miserably at the rain beginning to pour down. Suddenly, a warm pair of arms circled around her waist and drew her into a soft body.

"Sa-ku-ra." A warm voice tickled into her ear. Sakura instantly knew that voice. And as much she hated to admit it, she loved hearing it.

"S-s-sasuke-kun!" Sakura stuttered, blushing a bright red. "What are you doing?"

Sakura could feel Sasuke's smirk as leaned closer to her. "What does look like?"

Suddenly he whipped her around, his arms still around her waist, and crushed his lips onto hers. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise as Sasuke began to press her against a wall, closing the gap between their bodies even more. Trying to resist at first, she discovered that he was just too strong and began to cave under his demands. Closing her eyes, she raked her fingers through his soft raven locks. Sakura, much to her chagrin, let out a soft moan as Sasuke pressed closer to her, feeling him smirk in reply.

Not only was Uchiha Sasuke hot, he was a damn good kisser as well. Sakura could begin to understand why he had such a huge fan club. He would have no trouble running Hi no Kuni. I mean, how could he when he had the ultimate weapon of persuasion? He could have all the girls and gays of the country bowing down before him if he wished. Heh, gays and Sasuke. What a thought that was.

A warm tongue pressed into Sakura's mouth, shaking her from her thoughts. That's right Sakura, she heard a voice inside her head saying, less thinking, more kissing. She gladly obeyed. However, there was only so much a one could physically take before they ran out of air. After many more seconds of heated kissing, Sasuke and Sakura drew apart, breathing heavily.

"Sakura." Sasuke finally said when he got his breathing under control. "I lo—."

THUD—!

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace)

"Damn dream…damn chicken head…damn life." Sakura grumbled, a bright red blush adorning her face. Rubbing her sore head, she climbed back in bed and glanced at her alarm clock. It read 2:04 in the morning. Great, this was just what she needed. An early morning wakening after a stressful day of information overload. Hugging one of her many large pillows Sakura tried to go back to sleep. However, it was futile. As much as she tried, sleep found a way to elude her.

"Well it was just a dream anyway." Sakura said out loud to no one in particular, listening to the sound echo off the walls. "Just a dream. Hah, I mean it's not like Chicken head would do anything like that anyway…" Suddenly the images from her dream came flooding back to her. It all seemed so real. The softness of his hair between her fingers, his warmth of his breath against her face, the feeling of his body pressing against hers….Whoa, stop right there. This was getting out hand. Jumping out of bed, Sakura decided to take a midnight stroll around the palace to clear her heads. Tch, to hell with what the 'official rules' of the palace said about not wandering around the palace after hours? She was Crown princess of Hi no Kuni, dammit! She ought to be able to do what she pleased, when she pleased, hell yeah.

Tying a soft pink robe around her pajamas, Sakura stepped into a pair of slippers and quietly slipped out of her bedroom. The palace was completely deserted at this time of day…well night really, and the wooden floors creaked eerily beneath Sakura's feet. Careful not to make much sound Sakura felt her way through the darkness in hopes to reach her destination: the kitchen. But lady luck was not on her side today. Before she could even travel 3 feet, an oh so familiar, very annoying, yet always able to make her blush voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Sakura." It wasn't a question, or a command, just a statement. A statement coming from the very last person Sakura wanted to see at that time. Though her brain could process who what was happening, her body instinctively told her what to do right then. Scream like hell.

"AHHHHHHH!!" Sakura screamed, scared out of her wits. I mean, who wouldn't be? It was 2 o'clock in the morning. The palace was dark, it was big, every sound you made echoed off the walls. There was, or was supposed to be, no one around. You were alone. And suddenly some random voice talks to you. Hello! Talk about creepy.

"AHHHHH—oomph!!" she continued to scream until a large hand forced its way over her mouth and a long arm wrapped around her stomach, drawing Sakura against her captor.

"Would you shut up, Sakura?" Sasuke quietly hissed into Sakura's ear. "What do you want to do? Wake up everyone in the whole damn palace?"

"Erhmphfot," came Sakura's muffled reply.

"Nicely said." Glaring at the boy, Sakura bit his hand, making him remove it and curse loudly. "Dammit Sakura, what was that for?"

"That was for being a jerk." Sakura replied pointedly. It was then, however, that she realized the position they were in. "A-a-anyways…are you going to release me?" Sakura asked, thankful that the darkness hid her blush. This was too much like her dream for her liking!

"No." Sasuke swiftly replied.

"What do you mean no, you bastard?" Sakura fumed. Did he truly not realize the compromising position they were in? Wasn't he supposed some genius with an IQ to match Shikamaru's own impressive one of 200!? If they were caught Sakura swore she would have an aneurism.

"Tell me first what you were doing." Sakura rolled her eyes at Sasuke's demand. Must he know everything she was doing? Jeez, it wasn't like she was going to steal some precious heirloom…although that was a nice idea.

"If you were worrying about me stealing some oh so precious heirloom in order to sell for money for my poor, starving family, then there's no need to worry. I don't see _why _I have to tell you, but if you insist—" Sakura drew the last word out on purpose, hoping Sasuke would say otherwise.

"I wasn't worried, your family isn't that poor and starving, and I do insist." Of course he wasn't worried. The great Uchiha Sasuke worried about nothing, remember? And how did he know her family wasn't that poor and starving? It wasn't like he had ever gone to her house before…oh right. He had.

"I was going to kitchen for a post-midnight snack. There. Happy?"

"A…midnight snack?" Sasuke quirked his eyebrows upward—damn that habit of his was getting annoying.

"Yes a midnight snack. Has your princliness never heard of such a thing we commoners do?"

"I know what a midnight snack is Sakura, I'm not dumb. I was just surprised." Sasuke snapped. Glancing at the watch, he let out a sigh and loosened his hold on Sakura, much to her relief and disappointment. "I might as well escort you then. Knowing you, you'll probably end up at the fencing gallery instead." Sasuke took one of Sakura's small hand in his own and started to lead her towards the kitchen.

"You know, I'm not dumb either Sasuke. I know how to get the kitchen just fine by myself. I have been here for many months now. And on second thought, is there even a fencing gallery in the palace?" Sakura retorted. Did he think she was a child still? She was 19 years old already, mind you—19! Just because he was one year older, one measly year, didn't mean she was a child, dammit!

"Hn." Sakura couldn't help but smile at Sasuke's reply. It was amazing how much Sasuke used that word. That and 'aa.'

The two of them fell into a comfortable silence as the steady rhythm of their feet echoed off the high wooden ceiling of the palace. Sakura shyly observed her companion and noted how if anyone were to see them now, they would seem like your typical couple taking a stroll in the park, holding hands and everything. But normal wasn't the word to describe her life. She wasn't in a normal relationship like a girl of her age should be in. Instead, she was already married, soon to be the co-ruler of the country, and as much as she hated to admit it, for the thought hurt her, unrequitedly in love with the man who she was forced to spend the rest of her life with. Life could be too cruel at times, couldn't it?

"Hm? Did you say something?" Sakura asked, hearing a soft voice.

"No…"Sasuke slowly said and stopped. He too heard the voice. Straining hard, he realized it came from behind a set of closed doors that led to the King's study. Where had he heard that voice before…? Sasuke frowned and, letting go of Sakura's hand, cracked the door open a bit.

"What are you doing Sasuke? Eavesdropping! That isn't a very princely thing to do." Sakura said teasingly, but had to admit that she was curious as well. Why would the King be up at this hour? With his health he should be resting. Crouching down, the two of them inched the door open little by little and peered in.

Sakura could see the King sitting at his desk, a worn expression upon his face. The Queen was in one chair, her back facing Sakura, and was talking to the other two person people present. One—was it a he or she?—was sitting in the other chair and had long-ish raven hair tied together. His or her companion who was standing beside him had skin the oddest shade of blue and spiky navy hair. Both of them where wearing identical long black coats with a pattern of red clouds on it. Sakura strained her ears to hear what Queen Mikoto was saying.

"What brings you back here? After all these years?" The Queen asked. Sakura noted her strained voice. Who were these people? The standing man shifted on his feet and nudged his companion to answer.

"We came because of…" The man started, however Sakura couldn't hear the rest for Sasuke had stood up. His face held an expression of absolute rage and his hands were tightly balled in a fist.

"Sasuke, what's the matter?" Sakura asked, tugging at his sleeves concerned.

"_Him!_" Sasuke spat out. Sakura stared at him, frightened. Never had she seen him so mad before.

"Still hot-blooded as ever I see…otouto." The raven-haired man (yes he was a man Sakura now confirmed) smirked. Woah, could someone say almost Sasuke-look alike? Well maybe not quite, but they were definitely related. Where Sasuke favored the more spiked up "cool" hairstyle this man chose to wear his raven locks long and tied up. Two deep creases marred each side of the nose and his eyes were the oddest shade of red—was that even humanly possible to have red eyes? And boy he was as hot, if not hotter than Sasuke. Wait, what was she saying? There was no one hotter than her Sasuke-kun! But of course she would rather kill herself than admit that to anyone.

"Sakura, get out of here." Sasuke growled quietly. Sakura blinked in surprise. Why couldn't she stay? She was his wife after all and had every right to know what was going on.

"But, Sasuke, I don't understand…why?" Sakura stuttered, wondering why the King and Queen just stared at Sasuke with the oddest look on their faces.

"Just do it!" Sasuke had already entered the room and was closing the door in her face, but her hand still attached to his sleeve stopped him. Sakura was about to open her mouth to protest but then Sasuke turned around and stared at her with an expression she had never seen before. He was clearly angry, there was no doubt about that, but underneath that mask was hidden sadness and…love? Sakura was so perplexed, but in her gut she knew better than to argue with him. Nodding, she slowly let go of Sasuke's sleeve and closed her eyes sadly as the door shut in front of her.

Perhaps it was none of her business, perhaps she had no right to know what was going on, but she wanted to. She wanted to be there for Sasuke. There when he needed someone to talk to or a shoulder to lean on. Why couldn't he see that? Why couldn't he see that she would do anything and devote all of her being to make him happy? Hot tears began to stream down Sakura's face and drip onto the cold wooden floor.

It wasn't fair. What had she done to deserve such a fate? Looking up at the closed door with teary eyes, Sakura laid her hands on the cold surface. Maybe one of these days he would understand. Maybe. Sakura hoped so.

-----

(Konoha High)

"Itachi…Prince Itachi…" Sakura quietly muttered to herself as she ran her finger down the row of books. Being the school where most of the wealthy and influential politicians sent their children to, Konoha High had one of the best libraries in the world. However, Sakura was unable to find any books or even newspaper articles containing information about Sasuke's brother Prince Itachi—and she had been looking for three straight hours already!

Sakura sunk into one of the many comfy chairs the library provided, deciding to take a much deserved break. Closing her eyes, Sakura let her mind wonder. But it wasn't for long for instantly her respite was interrupted rather rudely. A large cry pierced the silence of the library. Sakura's eyes snapped open and she immediately searched for the source of it, locating it instantly. Fuyuno Mika was surrounded by a group of girls, many pulling on her long hair, and photos littered the ground beneath her. Although Sakura had to admit that she wasn't fond of the girl, she couldn't put up with what was happening to her. How could people just stand around and watch those girls torture her?

"Stop it!" Sakura cried out and latched onto the arms of Mika's assailants. "What are you doing to her?" Sakura wrenched the hands away from Mika and kneeled beside the girl. "Are you okay Fuyuno-san?" She asked in a concerned tone. Mika nodded mutely, avoided eye contact with Sakura. Satisfied, Sakura stood in front of her, her hands spread out and addressed Mika's assailants. "Stop it! You have no right to bully her!" The girls just laughed. One of them walked up to Sakura and slapped her in the face. Shocked, Sakura held a hand to her face, opening to her mouth to protest but the other girl spoke first.

"What right do we have to bully her? Don't make me laugh. Do you actually think that we're so stupid to think that the Crown Princess doesn't even know what is going on at the Palace?" When Sakura looked at her with a blank stare the girl looked at her in disbelief. "Don't tell me…you don't know?"

"Don't know about what?" Sakura asked hotly. "What exactly is it that I'm supposed to know?"

Many of the girls shifted around uncomfortably whispering to one another. Finally, after a while one of the girls whispered,

"You really don't know what happened to Prince Sasuke in Kiri no Kuni?"

"Sasuke-kun? Did something happen to him? Is he alright?" Sakura asked, suddenly concerned.

"She really doesn't know!" Laughing hard, one of the girls grabbed Sakura by her hair and shoved her out of the crowd of girls so she could face everyone else in the crowd.

"Hey, what are you doing? That hurts!" Hot tears of indignation streamed down Sakura's face as she was shoved to the front of the library. She stared at the faces of the people around her who were looking at her. Sakura closed her eyes tightly, feeling the anger and pity rolling off of them in waves. How could they do nothing! How could they just look at her with those faces full of pity and do absolutely nothing? Suddenly Sakura's assailant's voice rang through the silent library.

"People of Konoha, I present to you your Crown Princess. Nothing but an ordinary girl until suddenly she is whisked away by the Prince. A fairy tale story you ask? Far from it! She doesn't even know what her _husband_ is doing behind her back. Screwing around with that whore!" Sakura's eyes snapped open. What did she say…?

"What…what are you talking about?" She asked confused. "Are you talking about Fuyuno-san?"

"Am I talking about Fuyuno-san? Of course I am. Look! Open your eyes!" The girl shoved a picture into Sakura's face. It was the picture of Sasuke and Mika kissing. Sakura felt her eyes opening even wider as she stared at the picture in mute horror.

"It…it can't be." She whispered quietly.

"It can't be you say. Well it is! While you're parading around your new found wealth, your husband is cheating on you behind your back. You think you're all that, but in reality you aren't! Even your husband knows you're good for nothing!"

"Stop it… stop it!" Sakura cried out. Untangling her hair from the girl's hands she raced out of the library. She covered her ears, still hearing the cruel laughter of the girl.

-----

"Sa-ku-ra! Where are you?" Sai's voice rang through the empty classroom as he poked his head inside. "That's odd. I was sure she would be in here." Sai turned to leave when he heard a loud sniff. Scanning the room more thoroughly again he found a mass of pink hair huddled in the corner, almost invisible from where he was standing.

"Sakura?" Sai asked concerned. He crouched down next to Sakura and shook her gently. Sakura lifted her head up and revealed her tear-stained face.

"S-sai-kun…what am I going to do?" She whispered. "He…he…" Sakura flung herself onto Sai and started to sob into his chest. Confused, Sai patted Sakura on the back and tried to calm her down.

"What's the matter Sakura? Who's he?"

"S-s-s-sasuke-kun." Sai felt his anger rising when Sakura choked out that name.

"Sasuke? Did he do something to you? Tell me what happened!" Sakura just shook her head and started to cry harder. It was then that Sai noticed that Sakura was holding something tightly in her hand. "Sakura… what is that?" When Sakura didn't reply, Sai tried to pry it out of her hands, but Sakura refused.

"No! No, don't!" Sakura shoved herself away from Sai. "I can't bear it anymore Sai-kun! It hurts so much. Why? Why did this happen to me!?"

"Sakura, just tell me what happened? I want to help you but how can if you don't tell me anything!" Sai yelled, feeling his frustration rise.

"You…you wouldn't understand." Sakura replied quietly. Sai stood up and walked over to Sakura. He slid a finger under her chin and gently raised her face to his.

"Then make me." Sakura opened her mouth to protest but immediately closed it when she looked into Sai's eyes. The sincerity that shone through them captivated her and against her better judgment Sakura felt her hands loosen around the photo she was holding. Turning her head away from him, Sakura shakily held the photo up for Sai to see. Sai's eyes opened widely in shock and his arms dropped to his sides.

"That _bastard_!" Sai finally hissed after several moments of silence. Sai turned away and started for the door, causing Sakura let out a surprised noise and grab onto his sleeve.

"Sai! Where are you going?" She asked him frantically.

"I'm going to make that worthless scum regret what he did to you! It's about time he wakes up and faces the consequences of his actions!" Sai snarled as he tried to pry Sakura's hands off of his sleeve.

"No! You can't Sai…you can't! Please don't, I'm begging you." Sakura cried out. Sai whipped around, his once kind face turned into a mask of fury. He grasped Sakura's arms tightly as he yelled at her,

"Why?! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't pound that bastard's skull into the ground! Tell me why I shouldn't! All he's done is caused you pain and you're still defending him. Sakura wake up! He doesn't love you. He doesn't love you!!" As he said those words, Sai's grip on Sakura tightened even more. Sai was about to continue his tirade when Sakura let out a loud yelp.

"It…it hurts Sai." Sakura whimpered. Quickly releasing Sakura, Sai raked a hand through his hair and let out a sigh.

"Sorry about that Sakura. I got a little carried away." He muttered.

"It's okay. Sai...please don't anything to hurt Sasuke." Wiping her tears, Sakura looked at Sai pleadingly. "I…I know he doesn't love me, but just the fact that he's been here for me during these past few months is enough. Even if he doesn't love me, I want to protect him. I'm fine with even this little piece of happiness. It may not seem much to most people but I'm fine with it so please don't hurt Sasuke-kun." Sakura grabbed onto Sai's sleeve and tried to muster up a happy smile to convince him but instead she felt hot tears prickle at the corner of her eyes. Sighing once again, Sai reached over and wiped the tears away from her face.

"Why must you be so stubborn Sakura?" He whispered. "You keep on insisting on protecting Sasuke even though you know he doesn't and never will love you. All he does is hurt you. Why won't you let me protect you? I want to be your pillar of strength."

"I…but, we're…me and Sasuke." Sakura sputtered as she tried to avoid Sai's intense stare.

"I don't care." Sai whispered fiercely to her. "I don't if we cause a scandal. All I care about is you and your happiness. And all I want to do is to protect that happiness forever."

"Sai…" Sakura started when Sai reached over and enveloped her in a tight hug.

"Just give me a chance Sakura." Against her better judgment, Sakura felt herself nodding.

-----

(Hi no Kuni Palace)

"He's hopeless." Sakura jumped up in surprise upon hearing a stoic voice behind her. Stuffing the picture of Sasuke and Mika she had been looking at into her pocket she turned around to see who was talking to her. Much to her surprise it was the mysterious man from the night before.

"A-are you talking about Sasuke-kun?" The man nodded and sat on the bench behind the one Sakura was on.

"My otouto is foolish."

"So you are Prince Itachi! The one who left the palace all those years ago, right?" Sakura asked excitedly. Itachi didn't say anything at first but merely shrugged his shoulders.

"It was a mistake on my part to do that. Sasuke isn't prepared to be the king at all. He's been causing scandal after scandal." Itachi scoffed. "He's too weak."

"What do you mean? I don't think Sasuke is weak at all!" Sakura protested.

"He gives into his emotions too easily and too readily." Itachi replied evenly. "Emotions make you weak."

"That's not true!" Sakura protested. She stood up to face Itachi, not faltering even when he turned to look at her with eyes as piercing as Sasuke's. "In fact, I think it's emotions that make you stronger! Without them, our lives would be nothing but one long dull story with no low or high points. There's no reason to live such a life devoid of emotions. My motto is, 'A lifetime of love!' The power of emotions is something that shouldn't be underestimated. It's like a shadow: It's always there, but you don't realize how important it is until you've lost it."

"You may think so, but you will soon figure out that you are wrong." Sakura gaped at what Itachi said. How just like Sasuke of him!

"Oh, you're just as impossible to talk to as Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed crossly. "Both of you are always thinking that you're right. I may not be a genius like you two are, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about. I'll let you know, I'm number two in our class—higher than even Sasuke! And when it comes to human emotions, I know more than both of you combined! Honestly, you two are just pig-headed, chauvinistic, jerks." Letting out an angry "humph," Sakura stood up and stalked away from the benches.

'I thought Sasuke had a big ego, but he has one just as large. Both of them are always thinking that they're right.' Stomping past a large tree, Sakura failed to realize that someone was standing beneath it until she bumped into him. She would have fallen if the person had not quickly grabbed her arm.

"You should watch where you're going." A voice told her gruffly. Startled, Sakura looked up and was met by the face of the mysterious bluish tinted companion of Itachi. "Don't be too mad at Itachi. That's just his way to keep people from getting hurt." Sakura furrowed her brow, not understanding what this stranger meant.

"What do you mean 'way to keep people from getting hurt'?" Sakura asked. "If he didn't want people to get hurt, why did he run away in the first place? Doesn't he realize that his actions caused people to get hurt!?" The man just sighed and shook his head.

"Naïve. Itachi didn't leave this place because he wanted to hurt other people. It was because he knew his responsibility as the Crown Prince and did so to protect his family from the media. Because his actions, the public never learned what truly happened."

"What…what exactly did Itachi-san do?" Sakura asked, her voice catching a bit from curiosity. The man stared at her seriously in the eyes and gravely replied,

"He killed a man." All Sakura could do after hearing that was to gasp. It was too much of a shock to think that the former Crown Prince actually did something like that. Sure Itachi seemed cold, but he didn't exactly seem like the murderer type.

"He killed a man." The man repeated. "But not because he wanted to like you most likely are thinking. It was to protect that ungrateful family he has." The man sighed again and turned away from Sakura. "You were too small to remember it I'm sure but at that time the public was dismayed by the sudden death of King Masao and were tired by the current system of a constitutional democracy. Many ambitious business men were plotting to murder the royal family and start a revolution. Itachi learned of the truth and in order to keep such an event from happening he killed the leader of the men."

"Then, it's not his fault for doing so! He was doing it to protect his country. Why did he have to leave? If he explained it to the public, I'm sure they would've understood his reasoning." Sakura exclaimed. She couldn't believe that Sasuke would still be mad at his brother if he heard the reasoning.

"What's the point in doing that? What's done is done. Only a coward tries to make up excuses for his actions." Sighing, Sakura gave up trying to figure out the reasoning behind Itachi's actions. An uncomfortable silence settled as Sakura tried to process all the information she had been told. Finally, she quietly asked,

"Who did Itachi-san kill?" Although she couldn't see it, the sides of the man's lips curved up in a twisted smile as he replied,

"The man Itachi killed was none a greedy business man by the name Fuyuno Kazuki, the father of your classmate Fuyuno Mika. Ever wonder why she tried so hard to get close to Sasuke? I wonder if she has enough connections to pull off the revenge she must be seeking."

"You're joking!" Sakura cried out surprised. "It can't be…Fuyuno-san. Fuyuno-san isn't like that. She… she loves Sasuke-kun!"

"Isn't a bit odd for you to be defending your husband's lover?" The man asked. Sakura, feeling tears begin to well up in her eyes, began to run back to the palace. She however, stopped a few feet away from the man.

"It may seem odd to most, but above anything else, I cherish Sasuke-kun's happiness. If Fuyuno-san brings him that happiness, than that is all that matters." After saying that, she ran back to the palace.

"So you told her after all Kisame." A voice said from the shadows. Itachi walked to the Kisame's side and watched the retreating figure of Sakura.

"She has a right to know what happened Itachi. She sure is an odd one, that girl. Odd, but I can see why you hope she will be able to change that lousy brother of yours." Kisame replied, stretching. "Although I can see your reason for not telling your parents why you killed that bastard, I agree with that girl. Perhaps it would've been better if you had told them why."

"It doesn't matter one way or the other. What's done is done."

-----

(Fuyuno House)

"Coming." Hearing the front door bell ring, Fuyuno Mika rushed to open the front door. Since her mother was away on a business trip, she was hoping it was a friend for she was lonely, but it seemed awfully late for any of them to come just because they were bored as well. Still trying to figure out whom it could be, Mika opened up the door and was surprised when she didn't see anyone outside. Believing it was just a prank, she began closing the door but a hand and voice stopped her.

"Mika." Mika's eyes widened. She knew that voice all too well.

"Sasuke…what are you doing here?" She asked, her back turned away from him. "Shouldn't you be back at the palace. Your parents will worry." Sasuke didn't answer her question but instead wrapped his arms around her figure and said,

"I don't want to go back….Mika, he's returned." Mika's breath caught as she heard Sasuke utter those words. "I promised this to you once, and I'll promise to you again. I won't rest until I take revenge on that bastard for what he did to you."

-----

Ino here! Dammit, what the hell is that bastard doing?! Screwing around with some woman when he has a faithful wife. Wait, just a sec. Sakura, what the hell are _you _doing? And since when did you become so intimate with Sai-kun? What in the world has happened to the royal couple?! I should be happy that there's so much scandal and gossip around these days but still! Dammit, be little more faithful, both of you!!

Next time, Chapter 11: Beginning of the End?

"If it wasn't for Sasuke, Masao wouldn't have been killed!"

-Uchiha Satsuki, former Queen of Hi no Kuni

-----

Unmei: I'm too frightened to even make up excuses. I'M SORRY!!!! PLEASE FORGIVE ME.!!!!!! It's been what, almost half a year since I've last updated? ….I don't even feel like I have the right to apologize. I've been horrible on keeping my promises about updating soon. I didn't even manage to get another update during Thanksgiving break! Well my cousins were over…but still! I'm horrible. I hope you all can forgive me… Namely:

Sakuranata: Sakuranata…Sakura + nata? Nata…I'm starting to get a headache about what it's supposed to mean. It doesn't mean anything Unmei, yes, stop thinking too much about it, it's just a really awesome penname. Yes, that's it! I'm really not trying to making fun of your name, I'm just really curious about how you thought up of it. Always when I'm trying to create usernames for various sites, the ones I want to use are already taken so I come up with lame ones. I can't believe 'unmeinohana' was taken on this one site! I was so pissed. Anyways, enough rambling, thanks so much for reading my story and keeping up with my bad updating habit. Hope you keep reading and enjoying this fic!! ☺

CherryBlossoms016: Haha, yea, if only dramas/life were really that easy. Sorry, but the "I love you" probably isn't going to be until the end which is…2-ish chapters away. But I'll try to make it a really awesome confession. I need to start watching more dramas to get inspiration!! Thanks so much for reviewing—I ♥ U!

Harmony: cough I uhh….took much longer than a month to update….I'M SO SORRRYYY!! I got all of your hopes up saying it'll only take me a month when it took me 6 months instead. I'm horrible… ;; Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I hope you still will stick with this fic despite my horrible updating habits. Thanks a ton again!! Please continue to read and enjoy Princess Hours!

baby's breath: Thanks for your advice! I agree, it really spoils a great fic/drama when the author/producer decides to draw out the ending too much. I'm just a bit worried about how I'm going to end it. I really don't know how…ugh, I think endings are the worse to come up with! I mean, I've probably only read a handful of books with really spectacular endings and although some dramas have decent endings like My Girl (loved! But I got kinda irritated at Yu Rin's constant "lying" but I still loved it. Oddly I didn't mind Xia Zhi Xing's "lying" as much in My Lucky Star even though she and Yu Rin were pretty doing the same thing) and ISWAK (I'm so glad the second season is out!! Although that one scene in the first episode was A-W-K-W-A-R-D), there are tons that are horrible! Well, endings are hard to come up with….Anyways, thank you so much for sticking with this fic despite my horrible lies and what such. Hope you continue enjoying reading this fic!!

shariganuser21: If you're sharigan user #21, then are there 20 other sharigan users? Okay, okay, I really out to stop asking about usernames. Bad Unmei, bad! hits self E…heh, anyways, I'm really glad you feel some pity for Mika! I really do feel pity for many of the second lead actresses' characters…well if they deserve it. I mean most people are just that they're splitting up the main characters relationship but sometimes they really are tragic figures. I'm trying to convey that, but I know that I don't really incorporate Mika into the story much, so I'm glad I'm sort of succeeding in conveying my ideals of her. Thanks so much for reviewing and I hope you keep on enjoying Princess Hours!!

AzureAriana: Rain…kun? Ahhh, as in Rain (Bi…wtf is with that nickname?!) who stars in Full House? He's a little girly for my taste so he's all yours. For me…I like more uh…not necessarily "more-guyish" guys but guys with shorter (as in not to the shoulder) hair is better. That doesn't even make sense. Once again sorry for not updating soon and thank you so much for reviewing. Please keep on reading and most importantly enjoying Princess Hours!! ♫

missyserena214: I guess you like Itachi? I'm pretty neutral towards him but for the sake of this fic I tried to portray him in a good light. I mean I really couldn't have otherwise. If he was evil first why would he have come back to Konoha? For power? He could've just stayed and become King…I mean how much more power could he want? For money? Same as above. Because he was bitter? Tch, yea right, he was the one who ran away. So yeah….kinda had to make him good or at least "decent." Well, thank you very much for reviewing! Hope you keep on reading and enjoying this fic.

n.sequitur: Is n.sequitur short for "non sequitur." I'm guessing since…that really is the only thing that makes sense. Ahhh, brings back memories of Latin class. Good times….for the most part. Except when we discussed some of the umm… derivatives of certain _interesting _words and such. It was just awkward to listen to our Latin teacher, who is this fairly short older woman, talk about such sexual stuff with such a straight face……Anyways, off that topic. Thank you for reviewing!! Even if it's short, I appreciate it just the same amount as a super long one.

a.finefrenzy: Umm…I'm Japanese/Chinese? Yay, Asians! So do you like watching a lot of Korean dramas? I love them! Well, as well as Japanese and Taiwanese dramas. I hope you do since if you do, we could discuss about them…well if would like to. I hope "freaky" endings are okay…I'm not really sure how to make them "freaky" or "un-freaky" so I hope both are fine. Thank you for reviewing and I hope you keep enjoying my fic!

silverymoonfire: ….I'M SORRY!!! Ugh…I feel so bad whenever reviews encourage me to update soon and I horribly promise to do so but in the end never do. I hope you forgive me and I'm really glad you reviewed and have read this far despite my bad habit. Please continue to keep on reading! I shouldn't keep on making empty promises, but I'll really try to update sooner this next time.

iyashi kaze: Since I'm on a username questioning mood it seems…isn't your username the name of a spell Fuu uses in the manga series Magic Knight Rayearth? …just wondering. But yeah, like I wrote to sharinganuser21, I'm glad you can feel sympathy for Mika…that means I'm doing a good job portraying the mood! Sort of…not really. Umm…anyways, thank you for constantly reviewing!!

Sakura1007: Well….you'll just have to see if Sakura is ending up with Sai in the end. It's a secret after all! But to give you a clue…look at which pairing listing this fic is under. I'm really happy that you think this fic is really that good. Thank you so much for your compliment—it really gives me a lot of strength to keep on writing when I'm dead tired. Thanks again and I really hope you keep on enjoying this fic as much as you currently do if not more!!☺

Lackadaisical: Hehe, I'm really not that talented in writing…I just have a lot of experience. Ugh, all those essays we have to write for school, especially for teachers who like "unique" styles of writing, I'm glad to know they had some worth. I'm kinda sad you don't like Mika…I really do! I have such a fun time writing scenes with her since I feel her character is a lot easier to portray than Sai's or Sasuke's. Maybe it's just because I'm a girl but I can relate more to her wanting to be together with her love whom was (somewhat) unfairly taken away from her. I mean I would be pissed if something like that happened to me. Well, you can't like everyone I guess. Anyways, thank you very much for your compliment (ego +100 pts) and review!!

Baka'sAngel: I'm so glad you like my writing style! I've been working really hard to make it unique but interesting at the same time. It's always nice to hear that your hard work has paid off. Thank you so much not only for that compliment but writing such an encouraging review! I love such reviews…especially from people who are fellow drama watchers. Thank you once again and I hope you keep on reading Princess Hours (and watching it too!!) ♪

aznfanficluv: I understand how it's not like Sasuke to say "I'm sorry" but that's why I put it in to show how much Sasuke cares for Sakura and because he cares for her so much he is willing to sacrifice his pride and ego for her. I think it's quite romantic! For a guy who prides himself above all else to lower himself for the sake of the girl he loves…just thinking about it gives me shivers. I wish some guy would do that for me. But…then again that's just me. You're perfectly entitled to your own opinions. Hopefully I didn't disappoint you too much with how Itachi turned out. To be truthful, I'm a little disappointed, but I really did try many drafts of the story with Itachi being different but I thought this the most believable…so hopefully it's decent. Thanks for reviewing and I really do hope you keep on enjoying this fic!!

XcherryblossomX-priscillach…: phew…long name to type out. Sure I could use copy and paste but…I was being stupid. I'm really happy that you consider this fic a 10/10 perfect score story! Trust me it isn't but still it makes me happy that you believe that. Thank you so much and please keep on reading and most importantly enjoying Princess Hours!!

ItamiUchiha: A…cousin of Sasuke or the future wife?! Well, although I guess he's decent looking, I'm not really into drawn guys no matter how hot they are….although some are really good looking. I wish there were guys really that hot… cough Anyways (composure back in place) thank you for reviewing!! I'm glad you enjoy it and don't worry, I'll definitely keep on going until the very end even if I have to starve myself to do so, so please keep on enjoying this fic…It's really all the encouragement I get from everyone that helps me keep on writing! Thanks once again. ♥

Kittkatt291: Phew…last review to reply to. Please don't think me rude! I'm really not trying to be…it's just I've been writing these responses for awhile and I really want to be more individualistic in each review since there's only a few chapters left and I really want to convey my gratitude to my reviewers, but it gets tiring to think of different ways to do so without making it seem so generic and un-heartfelt. So, although I have said 17 other times, I really do mean it when I say thank you for your review and that your kind words really do encourage me to keep on writing. Thank you also for listening to my rantings and such and I really hope you keep on reading this fic!!

Unmei: So…ugh, tired very much. Consider it my Christmas present to all of my faithful readers and reviewers. Since most of you won't be reading this until tomorrow, I want to wish you all a belated **VERY MERRY HAPPY CHRISTMAS!! **as well as a happy, happy new year. May all of your wishes come true and I hope that this new year will bring more happy memories to everyone. If you are in love, I wish you the best of luck in your relationship, if you've just started working, make lots of money and give…err _donate_ some to me, and if you've accomplished your dreams, then you must be the happiest person in the world and I envy and wish to be like you. For everyone else, lets work hard together to accomplish our dreams (mine is to make enough money to travel around the world and eat tons of super duper yummy food!)


	11. The Beginning of the End?

Unmei: So. Yes, I realize it has been nearly a year since I updated this story. Seriously, I'm not sure why it took me this long. I had finished almost all of it except one part last spring. Well, whatever the reason may be, I hope all of you aren't too angry at the long wait, and I hope you will enjoy this much anticipated chapter.

Disclaimer: Even if I married the mangaka (which I certainly wouldn't no offense Kishimoto-san but…you're too old for me) I still wouldn't own Naruto…or Goong, poo.

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"There is no happiness in love, except at the end of an English novel."

-Anthony Trollope

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(Hi no Kuni Palace)

'_The road to happiness sure seems rocky for the newly married Crown Prince and Princess. Last year it was suspected that Crown Prince Sasuke was in a romantic relationship with Fuyuno Mika, the daughter of Asahi Enterprise's late CEO, Fuyuno Kazuki, who was tragically murdered 15 years ago by a delusional homeless man. However this rumor dissipated with the marriage of Prince Sasuke and Princess Sakura. But, we have recently been sent photos from an anonymous source that proves otherwise. In these photos it shows Prince Sasuke during his trip to Kiri no Kuni together with Fuyuno Mika—'_

"Sasuke what were you thinking? Do you understand what your actions have caused!?" An enraged elderly man wearing the clothes of the Palace elders shouted at Sasuke. "How could you have been so reckless? You know that you must maintain a proper image as the future leader of this country. And now you have gone and spread the seed of doubt in everyone's mind!"

"I understand." A stoic Sasuke replied.

"Understand? It doesn't matter if you understand it! What matters is what you are going to do next. Tomorrow is a crucial day. You must be prepared to talk to the media and clear this issue up. If not then…." The man paused for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he calmly continued, "then you may be forced to step down from your position of Hi no Kuni's current Crown Prince."

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Sakura sat on her bed watched the news mutely, tears silently flowing down her cheeks.

'_Witnesses in Kiri no Kuni reported seeing the Crown Prince and Fuyuno-san acting intimately with one another. One witness describes their behavior as that akin to lovers, mentioning how the Crown Prince protected Fuyuno-san from the paparazzi that shot these photographs. It seems that the earlier reports of their relationship being broken off were false despite the marriage of the Crown Prince to the current Crown Princess Haruno Sakura-san…'_

Ring…ring…ring…

"…hello?"

"Sakura, it's Ino! Are you watching the news right now?"

"Mm…"

"That bastard Sasuke! Tenten and I'll get him back for you…. Oh, Sakura, don't cry. I know you love him and this must be heart-breaking for you and all, but give it up. He'll never love you back!"

"…I know."

Click

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(Fuyuno Residence)

"You slut! Give Sasuke-kun back to us!!"

"How dare you seduce Sasuke-kun… you're the worst!"

"Sasuke-kun will never love you back!"

Mika Fuyuno silently drew the curtains of her windows closed, blocking her view of the thousands of protestors gathering around her window. She sat down on her bed, blankly staring at the television screen.

'_The Royal Family has yet to formally address the public about this recent scandal, causing much unrest throughout the whole country. Such an instance of marital infidelity has never been witnessed in the Royal Family as of yet. This brings to question what type of girl exactly is Fuyuno Mika and what about her drove the Crown Prince to commit such an act…'_

The ringing of a phone brought Mika back to her senses. Picking up her cell phone, Mika looked at the caller ID.

Suke-kun

"_I promised this to you once, and I'll promise to you again. I won't rest until I take revenge on that bastard for what he did to you."_

Taking a shaky breath, Mika slowly opened her phone.

"Suke-kun…"

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(Hi no Kuni Palace)

'_It is thought that the Council of Elders will ask Prince Sasuke to step down from his position of Crown Prince. But with the disappearance of Prince Itachi, the Uchiha family has no more sons to fill the role of successor to the throne. If Prince Sasuke were really to step down, it is rumored that former Crown Prince Yamamoto Sai, recently returned from his unfortunate exile in Kiri no Kuni, will once again assume this position although this has yet to be confirmed.'_

"I have to agree with Fujimoto Elder on this matter." A harried looking Queen Mikoto said. "You have committed a grave mistake Sasuke."

"I intend to fix it." Sasuke replied coolly as he stared defiantly back at the sea of faces surrounding him. Instantly, murmurs rippled throughout the crowd.

"Is that so? Then we will leave in your hands, Prince Sasuke to fix this most grievous error. But as Fujimoto Elder warned you, if this upcoming press conference does not go well, we will find a more fitting person to take over the role of successor to the throne. In fact, we have already decided on one." Sasuke sharply turned to look at the old woman who had just spoken.

"And who might that be?"

"We, that is, the other elders and I, have been informed of Prince Itachi's recent return. Although he too committed a grave sin as you have, the public was never informed of it so we believe that they will be more willing to accept him. After all, it is only right that we restore to him his proper position, don't you agree, Prince Sasuke, _second_ Prince of Hi no Kuni?"

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Princess Hours

Chapter 11: The Beginning of the End?

Unmei no Hana

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(Konoha High School)

"Look it's her!"

"I can't believe she can even come to school after the news yesterday."

"I know! If it was me, I would rather die than have to live through something like this."

"But then again it's not like it's her fault. It's Sasuke-sama who's in the wrong this time!"

"That is right… it's not like she was the one who was unfaithful."

"That doesn't matter. If she was a better wife, Sasuke wouldn't have gone and run off with that slut."

"And I thought Fuyuno-san was such a pure girl..."

"Guess that goes to show that looks can be deceiving."

"Just ignore them." Ino told a gloomy-looking Sakura as she glared at the girls who were gossiping, effectively shutting them up. The two of them were eating lunch together in the cafeteria, or at least Ino was. Sakura poked half-heartedly at her curry, sighing for the umpteenth time that day.

"Really Sakura, don't think so negatively. You should view the glass as being half full, not half empty!" Ino said as she tried to cheer up Sakura.

"And how do you expect me to do that Ino?" Sakura mumbled. "My family sold me for money into a marriage they knew very well would never work out. My so-called husband who doesn't even love me is cheating on me. My mother-in-law hates me as well as the general public, since I am, after all, the slut who stole their dear 'Sasuke-sama' away."

"Who cares what those bitches think! And you know your parents didn't do it just for the money! They love you too much to do that Sakura. And Sasuke well…" Ino trailed off. She knew that Sakura knew that Sasuke didn't love her, but what was the point of rubbing salt in her wound?

"Well, who cares about that bastard, Sakura? Look on the bright side, at least you have one awesome set of friends. Me, Hinata, and Tenten will always stick by your side no matter what. Hell, even Temari-sempai, for all her nagging and eye-rolling is concerned about you as well."

"It should be 'Hinata, Tenten, and I' Ino." Sakura corrected immediately.

"Yes, yes, grammar Nazi. At least you're somewhat back to your normal self if you can correct me like that." Ino laughed as she rolled her eyes. "So really, cheer up a bit. You look uglier when you're sad like this. Smile, Forehead Girl!" Poking Sakura's head, Ino smiled brightly at her. Sakura felt the corners of her mouth curling up slightly at Ino's attempts.

"Thank you Ino. You're always there comforting me… or at least trying." Sakura said gratefully.

"What are best friends for?" Ino joked. "Hey, wait just a sec. I see some girls trying to flirt with Shikamaru! I'll be right back Sakura." Ino shouted back at her friend as she ran to defend "her" Shikamaru from a group of giggling freshmen. Sakura just shook her head at Ino's antics. She and Shikamaru had only been together for a week and already she was acting like a jealous, overprotective girlfriend. Gods only knows how Shikamaru dealt with her. She had to admit that she was envious of Ino's position, never knowing the feeling of what it was like to be loved back.

"Yamanaka sure is energetic today, isn't she?" A voice behind Sakura laughed. Craning her head backwards, she was met by the ever smiling face of Sai. Sakura felt the corners of her mouth turn up again into an even wider smile. Sakura didn't know why, but Sai's smile was just too infectious for her to resist.

"Sai-kun! What brings you here today? I thought you usually ate in the classroom." Shrugging Sai took a seat beside Sakura and began eating his sandwich.

"I usually do, but then again don't you?" Sai replied.

"You got me there." Sakura admitted, finally taking a bite of her curry. Making a face, she washed it down with water. "I just remembered why I never buy the cafeteria curry. Really, what kind of meat is this supposed to be? Bear? Anyways, Sai-kun, you still haven't answered my question."

Sai merely shrugged again and took another bite of his sandwich before nonchalantly replying, "I was just checking up on you."

"Checking up on me? I'm already 19 you know Sai. I don't need a baby-sitter. I'm perfectly fine." Sakura protested.

"Are you sure about that?" Looking her straight in the eye, Sai continued to eat his sandwich, unnerving Sakura. Sakura looked away, embarrassed, replying,

"Of course I'm sure. Sasuke can do whatever he wants. I'm not his keeper."

"I never mentioned Sasuke." Sakura mentally cursed her slip-up. She was never able to deceive Sai; he was much more attentive than he let on to be. More softly, Sai added, "Do you still remember my promise?"

"Your… promise?" Sakura asked confused.

"_If fate hadn't been playing with us…your husband wouldn't have been Sasuke, but me, Sai."_

"Sai, I--" Sakura started, but was cut off by Sai.

"Sakura, please…just hear me out." Unsure of what to do, Sakura slowly nodded her head.

"I know you love Sasuke, but Sakura, please just realized that you two just aren't meant to be. For your sake, stop clinging onto the hope that Sasuke may return your love. He and Fuyuno-san have been in a relationship for years now. You can't break a bond like that. It's just not possible."

"I know that Sai." Sakura said evenly, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. "I know I can never come between the two of them even if I tried. But it's okay. Just supporting Sasuke-kun from the side is enough for me. As long as I can stand by his side, I'm satisfied."

"But who will support you?" Sai asked desperately. "Sakura, I know you try to act tough, but you're crying inside. Sasuke doesn't know that, but I do. I've told you this before, but I don't think you truly got it. Sakura let me be your support. I want to be the one holding you when you're crying, the person whose shoulder you lean on when you're tired, the one to make you laugh and see your smile."

"Why?" Cut in Sakura softly. "Why do you want to do so much for me?" Sai hesitated for a second, as if unsure of what to say. Taking Sakura's hands in his own, Sai looked Sakura in the eye and said,

"Because I love you Sakura."

Ringgggg—

Sai opened his mouth to say more but was interrupted by Sakura. Sakura, an unreadable expression on her face, abruptly stood up, pulling her hands away from Sai's.

"Thank you for your support, Sai. However… you know there's nothing I can do. It's just not possible for me to stop loving Sasuke-kun."

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Staring out the window at the gloomy April weather, Sasuke let out a sigh. Although he had talked big to the elders, in truth, he had no idea what he was going to say at the press conference. Should he tell the media of his relationship with Mika or deny it? What of his brother? He knew he had promised revenge to Mika, but somehow it just didn't feel like the right thing to do. Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair.

Too absorbed in is thoughts, Sasuke failed to see Mika coming into the room, carrying a large bento box. Mika softly put the box on a table and quietly tip-toed behind him. Placing her hands over Sasuke's eyes, she whispered into his ears a playful, "Guess who?"

"Mika, now isn't the time for games."

Pouting, Mika took a seat next to Sasuke. "What's the point of being your girlfriend if I can't play around with you any?" Opening up the bento box, she stuffed a piece of sushi into her mouth. "Anyways, have you prepared for the press conference?"

Sasuke ignored the question and instead proceeded to stare out the window. A sudden flash of pink caught his attention and he saw Sakura dancing in the streets, despite the rain and clouds. Not sure why, Sasuke longed to go down there, next to her. But the appearance of Sai with an umbrella, protecting Sakura, and bright smile Sakura flashed back at him, was enough to make Sasuke reconsider.

"Suke-kun, were you listening to me?" Mika questioned. Sasuke looked at her, an empty feeling in his stomach.

"Sorry Mika. I'm just a little tired." Sasuke stood up to leave, but before he could, Mika caught his arm.

"Sasuke, I know that you dislike all these rumors, but are they really that bad? I mean, we can finally be together this way." Sasuke said nothing and instead, gently pried Mika's hand from his arms and walked away. Feeling tears well up in her eyes, Mika shouted at Sasuke's retreating figure,

"I love you Suke-kun!" When he didn't answer, she added softly, "You better give your reply at the press conference."

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"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted at the retreating figure of Sasuke. If Sasuke heard, he made no indication of it as he continued to walk farther and farther away from Sakura. "You bastard! I know you heard me." Catapulting herself at him, Sakura swung around to face Sasuke and glared at his frowning face. "Nice to see you too."

"I'm busy Sakura, let me go." Sasuke demanded, pointedly avoiding her gaze.

"You're busy? You're always busy recently, Sasuke!" Sakura said frustrated. "Either that or you're tired. But I hear nothing of what you're doing? Really, as your wife, I have a right to know that!" Sasuke pried Sakura's hands off his arm and characteristically ran his hand through his raven locks with a sigh of annoyance.

"I'm preparing for a press conference, okay? Happy? Now let me go." As Sasuke began to walk away again Sakura felt herself unconsciously fist her hands in anger and felt angry tears pour down her face.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid? Press conference, my ass! I know that you're going to see Fuyuno Mika. Do you really feel the need to lie to me like that?!"

"If you knew, then why did you ask?" Sasuke replied, still walking way. He paused and then turned around to look at her. "I already told the driver that we won't be going home together from now on, so you can stop trying to rush to catch up with me. I'll see you later." Sasuke rounded the corner and proceeded out of Sakura's view. Once he did so, she let out a wail of frustration and kicked the nearby pillar.

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(Press Conference)

Sasuke walked up to a cloth covered table, taking his seat between the King and Queen of Hi no Kuni. He stared out at the audience, ignoring the blinding flashes of the paparazzi. Scanning the audience, he saw Mika sitting in the first row, eyes slightly puffy, staring expectantly at him. He saw Sakura in the back, defiantly refusing to take her seat next to him as was customary. And he saw Sai next to her. Sasuke felt his mouths instantly, unexpectedly, turn down when he spotted Sai. A slight tugging feeling bothered him and a scene of Sai and Sakura laughing together flashed across his mind. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, to compose himself, prepare himself for the onslaught of prodding, questioning, and so forth, Sasuke began to speak.

"I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to come here. I know that there has been much unrest throughout the country these past few days, and I feel, I know, that it is my responsibility as the Crown Prince of Hi no Kuni, to clam the people, to reassure them of any doubts they may have of the Royal Family."

"Around the internet and television, there was been many pictures of myself and Fuyuno Mika swirling around. Due to the nature of them, there has been much accusation as well about our relationship." Sasuke looked Mika straight in the eye as he said the following words. "Our relationship is nothing of lovers, just friends. It is as pure and simple as that. I am completely devoted to my wife, the Crown Princess of Hi no Kuni, Haruno—_Uchiha_—Sakura."

Mika tried to muffle a sob as she heard those words. 'So this is your answer Suke-kun?'

"Furthermore, I would like to shed light on an incident from long ago that has been covered up by the Royal Family." Looking towards the back of the room, Sasuke spotted Itachi in the shadows, a long cloak disguising him from the media. "15 years ago, the CEO of Asahi Enterprise Fuyuno Kazuki was tragically murdered. The media claimed it was a delirious homeless man. But that is not the truth." Murmurs rippled across the audience after Sasuke said this. Yamamoto Elder, sitting next to the king, angrily whispered,

"What are you doing Sasuke?!" Sasuke shot him a cold stare and replied,

"Telling the truth." Motioning for the reporters to calm down, Sasuke resumed. "As I said, it was no homeless man who killed Fuyuno-san, but instead my older brother Uchiha Itachi. That is all I would like to say, thank you very much."

Sasuke stood up and was instantly surrounded by reporters. He pressed his way through the crowd but stopped when Mika stepped in front of him.

"You promised me that you would stay with me forever." Mika cried softly. Sasuke looked down at her, eyes softening.

"No Mika. I promised you that I would stay with you until you get your revenge. And now you have it."

"Then do you love her?"

"Yes."

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(Yamamoto Yoga Clinic)

The bell on the front door rang to indicate a visitor, distracting Satsuki from the televised press conference. Satsuki made an annoyed noise as she tore herself away from the television and went to see who the visitor was.

"I'm sorry but we're closed for today…" She began when she saw who the visitor was.

"Aunt Satsuki. It's been awhile," said a stoic Itachi.

"It has indeed Itachi…kun. What brings you here? If you haven't seen Sasuke's press conference you're labeled a murderer now." Satsuki said as she crossed her arms over her chest. Even if her grudge was again Sasuke, she still couldn't forgive her brother-in-law's family for allowing the old king to send Sai and her away from Hi no Kuni.

"I know. I just came from there. But what my foolish little brother does is of no concern to me." Itachi reached his hand into a pocket and pulled out a package which he thrust out to give to Satsuki. Satsuki hesitantly took the package, a small worn out looking jewelry case.

"This is?" She asked perplexed. "The last time I checked, my birthday was in a month."

"I'll tell you soon. May I come in?" Nodding, Satsuki moved aside to allow Itachi to enter. She led him to the kitchen and began brewing a fresh pot of tea.

"Well?" Satsuki asked expectantly as she set a cup before Itachi.

"I know you hold a grudge against my family." Itachi began. "But have you even thought that your anger is misplaced?" Satsuki felt the anger she had tried to hard to restrain bubble up inside of her.

"Misplaced?! You know very well why I hold a grudge against your brother and you ask if it is misplaced!"

"Yes, I know why you hold a grudge against Sasuke. He may be a selfish boy but I assure you he is not the one you should be so angry against." Itachi replied emotionless.

"Enough! Your question of my judgment insults me. If you have nothing good to say and if you are not going to explain to me what this worthless package is than you can leave!" Satsuki abruptly stood up and started to open the kitchen door to show Itachi out. Still sitting, as if in defiance, Itachi said,

"I do not mean to insult you Aunt Satsuki. I only ask you to think reasonably. Let me ask you this, what day did Uncle Masao die?"

"15 years ago on July 23rd, Sasuke's birthday." Satsuki answered tersely. "If your memory is really that bad, allow me to refresh it.

"That day Masao went out to buy Sasuke a birthday gift. I told him he could just stay home and send someone to buy it for him. But no, he had to go and assure that the gift he gave Sasuke was acceptable. Masao loved that boy too much. I thought sometimes that he loved him more than he loved his own son. And so, as you know very well, he went to the toy shop accompanied by you to buy Sasuke a gift. And when he was coming home, he was killed in a car accident. If it wasn't for Sasuke, Masao wouldn't have been killed!" Satsuki cried out, dashing away the stubborn tears that welled up in her eyes.

"Are you satisfied with reducing me to this state!? What do you wish to accomplish by forcing me to remember the worse day of my life!"

"Nothing other than to tell you the truth. Your account is… mostly correct." Itachi said slowly. "It is true that July 23rd is Sasuke's birthday, but have you forgotten that it is another celebratory day?" His question took Satsuki aback.

"Another celebratory day…?" She thought for awhile before quietly replying, "That July 23rd was Masao's and my 10th wedding anniversary." Smiling softly at the memory she continued, "I remember thinking how blessed I was to have been married to Masao for so long. During the first years of our marriage I had had trouble conceiving and there were talks about the Elders forcing Masao to remarry so he could produce an heir to the throne. I was so angry with Masao for neglecting Sai, the very reason we were able to remain together, that I had forgotten it was our anniversary as well."

"That is correct." Itachi picked up the package which Satsuki had left on the table and once again handed it to her. "You should open this now."

Satsuki took the packages, glancing questioningly at Itachi. She opened the box hesitantly and gasped. Inside was a ring nestled in a bed of silk. It wasn't overly gaudy or flashy with only three small sapphires positioned between winding strings of white gold. On the inside cover of the box was printed the words: "To the one love in my life, Satsuki. May God bless us with another 100 years of happiness together."

"This… this is?" Satsuki asked shakily.

"A ring."

"I know that! But how did you get it."

"As you said, Masao left the palace the morning of July 23rd. But it wasn't to get a present for Sasuke. In fact he had already wrapped it up and placed it beside my brother's bedside. His purpose for going out was to pick up this ring he had made especially for you. I'm sorry it took me so long to return it to you were virtually impossible to find after you left Hi no Kuni."

"So…so you're saying the reason why Masao went out that day was to…" Satsuki trailed off.

"To give that to you. That is correct." Itachi watched Satsuki's face as she pieced together the facts. Her face slowly morphed from a sad remembrance to a horrified mask.

"Then… the person who really killed Masao was--" Turning to look at Itachi, Satsuki shook her head in disbelief. Itachi only nodded.

"No… no, it can't be! It can't be. It can't…"

-----

Taking a deep breath, Sakura leaned back in the sofa she was sitting on and gazed up at the ceiling. Reflecting back on the past events, she realized that it had already been half a year since she and Sasuke had suddenly gotten engaged and then married. Yet already within this short span of time, a whirlwind of events had happened, leaving Sakura confused and more importantly lonely. What had happened to her plan of getting married to some normal, but nice, guy and leading the happy life of a commoner? Instead of the secure future she had so desperately dreamed of, she was in the position that nearly all the girls in Hi no Kuni would die for. She should happy about that right? But yet she wasn't.

'Am I really this selfish that I'm not happy with the position I'm in right now?' Sakura thought miserably to herself. 'I'm horrible for wanting more… but is it really all that much to ask that the man I'm to spend the rest of my life with to love me?'

Knock…knock

Quickly wiping away a lone tear that had escaped, Sakura opened the door to her room. Expecting it to be Yoshino-sama or even Queen Mikoto, she was surprised when she was greeted with the cold onyx eyes she knew so much.

"Sasuke…" she uttered quietly. "What are you doing here?"

"Here." Sasuke said, avoiding her question. In his hands was a thick yellow envelope. Sakura took it as instructed and opened it up while asking,

"What is this Sasuke? Do you really have time to get such things for me? Don't you have to worry about—" She stopped in the middle of her sentence when she read the title on the top piece of paper she held. Sakura looked up sharply at Sasuke and whispered, "Sasuke… what's the meaning of this?" Sakura noted how Sasuke ran a hand through his hair as was his habit to do when he was feeling uncomfortable.

"I know you've the seen the news by now Sakura. As you know, the Royal Family is not in a very good position right now and even I have no idea what the future holds. Before this spins too out of control, you should get out." Sasuke averted his eyes from Sakura's which were already filling up with tears.

"I've already filled out my portion of the divorce papers… all you need to do is sign and you're free of me. I know this probably isn't the best of timing but isn't this what you've always wanted? The Royal Family will make sure that you and your family will be able to move to somewhere like Suna no Kuni where you can lead a peaceful life away from the scandals we've created. Well I guess you can never be rid of them, but hopefully within a month of so, they'll quiet down a bit." Unable to think of anything else to say, Sasuke turned his back to Sakura and began walking away from Sakura. He walked half-way across the hall before he stopped.

"I guess this is good-bye Sakura. I… I'm sorry I haven't been a very good husband to you Sakura. You deserve better. Use this opportunity to go and lead the life you've always been complaining that I stole from you."

"I don't want to!!" Sakura shouted. Not caring that her tears were now flowing freely down her cheeks, Sakura threw the divorce papers onto the floor and ran to Sasuke, embracing him tightly from the back.

"I don't want to Sasuke." She repeated. "I don't care if everyday will be a living Hell from now on and I don't care if the media tears my reputation to shreds. As long as you're by my side I don't care! So please Sasuke, don't tell me I have to leave. Please don't."

"Sakura… You know this is for your own good."

"Since when do you care what's for my own good?! I'll decide what I want to do. Don't you see Sasuke? I love you! I love you, you good for nothing, obnoxious, arrogant, pompous chicken head! I love you…"

Sasuke stood there still for a few moments as if trying to absorb what Sakura had just said. He then, however, turned to face Sakura and gently slid her arms off of his own. Sighing deeply, he dug a handkerchief from his pocket and almost tenderly wiped the tears from Sakura's face.

"Blow," he instructed. Sakura compliantly blew her nose and wiped the remaining tears from her face with the back of her hands. Sasuke sighed again as he saw that a fresh batch of tears was welling up again in Sakura's eyes and ran a hand through the raven locks Sakura loved so much.

He suddenly leaned in closer to Sakura and gently pressed his lips against Sakura's own. Sakura didn't know why he was kissing her, after all, despite what he had said earlier, the one he loved was Mika, but she didn't care. Closing her eyes, she savored the warmth and gentleness of the kiss, so uncharacteristic of the usual cold Sasuke. Sasuke pulled away after a few seconds and whispered,

"Sakura… thank you." Then all went black.

-----

(Mainichi Newspaper Company, Editor Konan's Office)

"Hey boss, this package came for you." An employee handed a thick envelope to editor Konan. She took the envelope and questioned,

"From who?" The employee only shrugged and waving farewell, exited the office. "I bet it's some kind of gag or a desperate family trying to get attention." Konan muttered to herself as she tore open the envelope. She pulled out the thick stack of papers and picked up the first one—a letter—and read:

"_Konan, _

_It's been awhile. I know you haven't forgotten all the times I have helped you in the past. It is my turn now to ask you for help in return. These papers prove that the car accident that took the life former king Uchiha Masao was no accident. I won't say anymore for the papers will explain everything._

_Itachi" _

Konan, although mildly shocked at Itachi's sudden request, perused through the papers. Her eyes grew wide as she read. With a shaky hand, Konan picked up the phone and said,

"Stop the presses. There's a more important story we need to publish."

-----

Hey, Naruto speaking! Jeez, why isn't it until now that you let me do one of these previews? Anyways, who cares if Sasuke is totally being a douche and a player (bastard, playing around with my Sakura-chan!) since I'm going to be the next king, believe it! I still have the contract Sasuke signed giving me the rights to be the next ruler of Hi no Kuni. Ignore the fact that he was drunk when I forced, I mean, when he voluntarily signed it. Who cares about being in the royal family anyways? Haven't you ever heard of a revolution? I swear, I'm going to revolt against that teme if he keeps being a total asshole. But what's worse is that Sakura-chan totally hasn't turned to me for support, but instead that new kid Sai. What's up with that?!

Next time, Chapter 12: Puzzle Pieces

"Sai-kun… I'm tired of waiting for something that's never going to happen. I…I want to know what true love is like. Won't you show me?"

-Haruno Sakura, former Crown Princess of Hi no Kuni


End file.
